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BR  1720  .J8  M37  1921 
Martindale,  C.  C.  1879-1963 
St.  Justin  the  Martyr 


M3& 


CA  T HO LIC  THO  UGHT  6-  THINKERS  SERIES 
Edited  by  C.  C.  Martindale,  S.J.,  M.A. 


St.    Justin    the    Martyr 


IN  THE  SAME  SERIES 
Introductory:  by  C.  C.  Martindale,  S.J.,  M.A. 
Erasmus  of  Rotterdam  :  by  Maurice  Wilkinson, 
Alcuin  :  by  E.  M.  Wil mot- Buxton 


NIHIL  OBSTAT:  F.  THOMAS  BERGH,  O.S.B. 
IMPRIMATUR:  EDM.  CAN.  SURMONT,  VIC.  GEN. 
WESTMONASTERII,  DIE  18  AUGUST  1921. 


DEDICATION 


RICHARD    PHILIP    GARROLD 
S.J.,  M.A.,  C.F. 

The  more  truly  an  historian 

because  he  understood 

so  much  of  human  nature 

R.I.P. 


+>   BIBLIOGRAPHICAL   NOTE   * 


T  will  be  recalled  that  the 
volumes  of  this  series  aim 
at  giving  no  exhaustive  or 
adequate  account  of  their 
subject.  They  propose  to 
supply  in  outline  the  main 
thought  of  a  writer  on  the 
more  important  topics  with 
which  he  dealt.  Readers  anxious  to  supplement 
the  following  pages  are  referred  to  : 
J.  Riviere  :    St.  Justin  et  les  Apologistes  du  zme 

siecle  (Paris,  1907). 
L.  Pautigny  :   Justin,  Apologies  (Paris,  1904). 
G.  Archambault :  Justin^  Dialogue  avec  Tryphon 

(Paris,  1909). 
M.J.,  Lagrange,  O.P.  :  Saint  Justin  (Paris, 
1914).  Full  of  information  not  found  in 
other  works ;  a  vivid  picture  of  Justin  ;  a 
penetrating  psychology ;  an  unusually  high 
and  accurate  estimate  of  the  value  of 
Justin's  work. 
P.    BatirTol :     Ancienne    litterature    chretienne 

grecque  (Paris,  190 1). 
A.  Puech  :     Apologistes  grecques  du  zme  Steele 

(Paris,  191 2). 
J.   Lebreton  :    theories  du  Logos  au  debut  de 
Vere  chretienne  (Paris,  1906). 

7 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL   NOTE 

J.  Tixeront ;  tr.  (Herder) :  History  of  Dogma, 
vol.  i. 

R.  Glover  :  The  Conflict  of  Religions  in  the 
Early  Roman  Empire  (Methuen,  ed.  8, 
1 9 1 9).  Is  good  upon  the  environment  of 
Justin,  but  quite  unfair  to  the  Saint 
himself,  and  inadequate  as  to  Christianity 
as  a  whole. 

For  Hermias  see  Migne,  Patrol.  Graec,  vi. 
1169-1180. 

For  Tatian  ib.  803-888,  and  A.  Puech : 
Recherches  sur  Tatien  (Paris,  1903). 

For  Athenagoras  ib.  ii.  889-1023 ;  and 
Gebhardt  and  Harnack  (Leipzig,  1892); 
Armitage  Robinson  (in  Texts  and  Studies, 
Cambridge,  1 89 1,  and  Apology  (London, 
1909)  ;  and  in  general  Bardenhewer's 
Patrology  (tr.  Shahan),  1908 ;  and  The 
Catholic  Encyclopedia. 

St.  Justin's  Works 

Authentic 

Apologia  I.  addressed  to  Antoninus  Pius. 
Apologia  II.  addressed  to  the  Roman  Senate. 
Dialogue  with  Trypho  the  Jew. 

Spurious 

Address  to  the  Greeks. 
Exhortation  to  the  Greeks. 
On  the  Monarchy  [i.e.  on  the  Unique,  Supreme] 
of  God. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL   NOTE 

Letter  to  Zena  and  Serenus. 
A  few  others. 

Lost 

Treaty  on  All  Heresies :  the  originals  of  the 
Address,  Exhortation,  and  On  the  Monarchy 
above  mentioned  :  The  Psalmist ;  On  the 
Soul. 


Contents 


CHAPTER   I 

ST.    JUSTIN    AND   THE    WORLD   FOR 
WHICH  HE  WROTE 

(i)  St.  Justin's  Environment. — The  political 
or  social  problem  (Emperor- worship)  j  the 
religious  problem,  especially  in  its  {a)  conserva- 
tive and  official,  (b)  popular,  aspect.  Oriental 
cults  and  moods ;  the  philosophical  problem ; 
Stoicism,  the  Stoic  Logos ;  Epicureanism : 
Gnosticism. 

(ii)  Other  Apologists. — Justin's  conversion, 
education,  career,  and  martyrdom,     pp.  18-35 


CHAPTER  II 

ST.  JUSTIN'S  "  PROLEGOMENA  " 

Preparation  of  mind  and  will  in  view  of 
equitable  judgment. 

(i)  Tkeu  CkristianFact." — Christian  morality: 
Christian  citizenship.  (Note  on  St.  Justin's 
allusion  to  Christian  worship.)  Value  of  this 
argument  as  facilitating  an  equitable  inspection, 
by  the  pagans,  of  the  Christian  doctrine.  Duty 
of  approaching  such  an  inspection  in  a  proper 
state  of  mind. 

11 


CONTENTS 

(ii)  The  "Prophetic  Fact." — Despite  the 
obscurity  of  the  Hebrew  prophecies,  rendering 
this  "  fact  "  less  immediately  challenging  than 
the  "  Christian  Fact,"  the  fulfilment  of  so 
many  ancient  predictions  warrants  a  non- 
Christian's  looking  with  interest  and  good-will 
towards  Christianity.  Conclusion  :  Christianity 
can  be,  and  should  be,  defended  "  reasonably," 
and  must  be  examined  "  equitably."  (Note 
on  a  passage  from  On  the  Resurrection  oj  the 
Dead)      .....        pp.  36-58 


CHAPTER   III 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

(i)  God.  — The  existence  and  nature  of  God. 
He  is  Absolute,  One,  Eternal,  Infinite,  Spiritual, 
Creator  and  Providence.  The  consequent 
duty  of  spiritual  worship. 

(ii)  The  Logos. — (a)  The  Apologists  profess 
belief  in  the  Trinity,  yet  speak  but  little  of 
the  Third  Person.  They  concentrate  on  the 
Second,  because  of  the  Logos  doctrines  existing 
in  pagan  philosophies.  The  Stoic  version  of 
this  belief.  Logos  endiathetos,  prophorikos,  and 
spermatikos. 

(b)  Justin's  Logos  doctrine.  His  view  of  the 
participation  by  human  reason,  by  the  philoso- 
phers, and  by  the  Jewish  nation  (particularly 

12 


CONTENTS 

the  prophets)  in  the  Word  who  was  incarnate 
in  Jesus  Christ.  Difficulties  to  which  Justin 
was  exposed.  Practical  importance  of  the 
Christian  doctrine. 

(iii)  The  Work  of  Jesus  Christ.— (a)  The 
creation  of  the  world.  Freedom  of  man's 
will.  Revolt  and  fall  of  angels  and  men.  The 
role  of  evil  spirits  ever  since ;  they  generate 
polytheism,  heresies,  and  persecutions.  (Note 
on  the  Apologists'  view  of  heresy,  and  the 
supernatural  unity  of  the  Church.) 

(b)  The  preparation  for  the  Advent  of 
Christ.  Hebrew  prophecy.  The  "  Jewish 
controversy  "  :   the  nature  of  the  Old  Law. 

(c)  Jesus  Christ,  true  God,  and  true  man, 
born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  crucified,  dead,  and 
risen. 

His  redemptive  work  is  not  merely  that  of 
conquering  evil  spirits  and  helping  man,  but 
the  "  recapitulation  "  of  humanity  into  Himself. 

Hebrew  prophecy  read  in  the  light  of  the 
Incarnation.  The  relation  of  Christianity  to 
pagan  myth.  Permanent  importance  of  this 
controversy. 

(iv)  Christian  Eschatology. — The  paramount 
importance  of  the  work  of  the  Apologists 
resides  in  their  doctrine  of  God,  of  the  Logos, 
and  of  the  "  Christocentricity  "  of  history 

pp.  59-156 


13 


St.  Justin  the  Martyr 

Introductory 


aaU&iattglTH    the    death   of    the 
last      Apostle,      an      era 
closed  for  the  Christian 
Church.     That   era  had 
had    its    own    problems, 
especially  that  of  the  re- 
lation of  Christianity  to 
the  Jewish  religion.     The  theory  of  this 
was  very  fully  worked  out   in   St.  Paul's 
epistles,  and  little  was  left  to  be  added, 
save  by  way  of  illustration.     However,  the 
problem  continued  to  exist,  and  something 
will  be  said  of  it  below.    Other  problems, 
however,  were  foreshadowed  in  the  Apos- 
tolic writings,  and  in  particular  that  of  the 
relation  of  Christianity  to  the  State,  upon 
which  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  touch  more 
than  once,  and  which  bulks  large  in  the 
Apocalypse.     It  took,  however,  a  tremen- 
dous practical  importance  as  time  went  on, 
and  had  a  share,  as  we  shall  see,  in  occasion- 

15 


INTRODUCTORT 

ing  the  Apologies  or  Defences  of  Christianity 
of  which  in  this  volume  we  shall  be 
writing.  This  constituted  the  Political 
Problem.  The  Christians  were,  moreover, 
confronted  with  the  various  religions  of 
the  Empire,  in  their  more  respectable  and 
cultured,  but  especially  in  their  more 
popular,  forms.  Heathen  religions  as  such 
are  not  to  the  forefront  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment ;  but,  in  St.  Paul's  experiences  at 
Athens,  we  perceive  the  Apostolic  Church 
addressing  itself  to  what  we  may  here  call 
the  Religious  Problem.  More  continu- 
ously provocative  of  thought,  however, 
than  either  of  these  was  the  Philosophic 
Problem.  That  is,  for  many  centuries 
pagan  thought  had  striven  to  give  an 
account  of  the  ultimate  principles  under- 
lying the  life  of  the  universe  and  of  man 
in  particular  ;  and  very  strong  systems  had 
been  thought  out,  few  of  which  discarded 
altogether  the  ideas  and  terminology  of 
religion.  These  problems,  singly  and  to- 
gether, constituted  a  grave  challenge  to 
the  new  Faith,  and  asked  that  it  should 
give  a  reasonable  account  of  itself,  if  it 
could  or  would.    Jewish  antagonism,  poli- 

16 


INTRODUCTORr 

tical  persecution,  popular  dislike  and  con- 
servative religious  resentment,  and  rival 
philosophies,  called  into  existence  the 
earliest  group  of  Christian  Apologists  of 
whom  St.  Justin  was  the  most  noteworthy, 
or  whose  works,  at  any  rate,  are  the 
most  complete  and  typical. 

It  seems  suitable  to  give,  first,  in  suf- 
ficient outline,  a  view  of  the  Roman  world 
from  these  political,  religious,  and  philo- 
sophic standpoints  ;  each  will  be  further 
made  intelligible  as  we  proceed  to  examine 
St.  Justin's  own  thought. 


Chapter  I 


ST.  JUSTIN  AND  THE  WORLD  FOR 
WHICH  HE  WROTE 

§i 

St.  Justin';   his  Environment 

OMAN  officials  would 
have  said  that  most,  if 
not  all,  the  earliest  "  per- 
secutions "  were  justified 
because  the  Christians 
were  politically  danger- 
ous. It  is  true  that  their 
"  offences  "  were  negative,  e.g.  refusals 
to  worship  the  Emperor.  But  such  re- 
fusals seemed  to  imply  an  assault  upon  the 
whole  structure  of  the  Empire  and  indeed 
of  Society.  It  was  extremely  difficult 
to  hold  the  Empire  together  ;  the  army, 
the  "  civil  service,"  and  commerce  con- 
spired to  do  this,  but  all  three  were 
permeated  with  Emperor-worship,  and  life 
in  any  of  them  was  often  practically 
impossible  without  it.  Thus  commercial 
life  functioned,  to  a  very  great  extent,  not 

18 


THE  WORLD  FOR  WHICH  HE  WROTE 

least  in  Asia  Minor,  where  Christians  were 
so  numerous,  through  guilds,  which  may 
roughly  be  compared  to  trades  unions  ; 
not  to  belong  to  one  of  these  meant, 
practically,  boycott.  The  temptation, 
then,  to  belong  to  a  guild  was  almost 
overwhelming  ;  but  all  these  guilds  had 
periodical  social  and  religious  gatherings, 
and  successful  members  of  the  guilds 
necessarily  played  an  important  part  in 
these.  All  such  gatherings  involved  the 
expression  of  divine  homage  to  the 
Emperor  ;  and  thus  Christians  were  faced 
with  the  dilemma  of  practical  apostasy, 
or  starvation,  if  they  were  occupied  with 
trade.  The  terrible  consequences  of  this 
problem  are  very  visible  in  the  Apocalypse. 
In  the  army,  at  every  turn  a  soldier  found 
himself  obliged  to  adore  the  Emperor's 
name  or  symbol  ;  the  military  oath,  the 
very  standards  which  a  soldier  followed 
or  passed,  seemed  to  suggest,  or  in  fact 
exacted,  some  such  homage.  In  certain 
groups  of  Christians,  moreover,  the  whole 
idea  of  bloodshedding,  and  therefore  the 
military  career,  tended  to  be  felt  as  wrong. 
Finally,  the  immense  middle  class,  which 

19 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

had  recently  formed  itself,  all  the  smaller 
provincial  civic  offices,  and  the  new  ranks 
created  and  thrown  open  to  important 
men  in  the  larger  towns,  had,  for  binding 
force  or  central  social  activity,  the  worship 
of  the  Emperor.  Even  if  this  worship 
had  been  purely  conventional  and  had 
implied  no  interior  conviction,  which  was 
far  from  being  the  case,1  the  Christians 
could  not  have  paid  this  exterior  tribute  to 
paganism.  It  became  practically  impos- 
sible, therefore,  for  them  to  share  in  the 
life  of  the  overwhelming  majority  of 
the  Empire's  non-slave  population  ;  and 
while  their  state  of  mind  appeared  to 
be,  accordingly,  in  direct  opposition  to 
the  fundamental  ideas  of  contemporary 
Society,  their  mere  abstention  seemed,  the 
moment  they  became  numerous,  a  grave 
menace  to  its  very  existence. 

Reprisals  were  taken,  and  official  "  per- 
secutions "  have  been  catalogued.  But, 
with  certain  exceptions,  it  was  probably 
the     local    and    provincial    persecutions, 

1  Here,  and  in  all  this  matter  of  the  persecutions,  there 
is  a  co-efficient  of  popular  psychology,  operating  almost  as 
far  as  collective  hallucination,  on  which,  however,  I  do  not 
wish,  in  this  book,  to  dwell. 

20 


THE  WORLD  FOR  WHICH  HE  WROTE 

engineered  largely  by  zealous  subordi- 
nates, which  tried  the  Christians  worst  and 
on  the  widest  scale  ;  and  almost  more 
harassing  than  actual  attack  was  the 
uncertainty  in  which  they  were  forced  to 
live,  and  the  vagueness  of  the  laws  which 
gave  such  scope  to  the  activities  of  indivi- 
dual governors,  and  never  allowed  the 
Christians  to  feel  secure  as  to  what  might 
happen  next. 

However,  all  this  would  scarcely  have 
been  possible  had  not  a  strong  current  of 
popular  feeling  supported  it.  This  was 
due  to  the  general  state  of  religion  among 
the  masses  ;  and  the  governing  classes  for 
many  reasons  had  to  attend  to  this.  The 
Roman  rule  had  a  strong  element  of  wise 
toleration  in  it,  and  it  allowed  its  subjects 
to  keep  to  their  hereditary  cults,  provided 
these  did  not  create  organized  societies 
which  could  turn  into  instruments  of 
conspiracy  against  the  State  ;  and  provided 
they  were  not  exclusive,  so  as  to  provide 
occasions  of  spiritual  schism  within  the 
Empire  :  but,  more  than  this,  ever  since 
Augustus  an  attempt  had  been  made  to 
preserve  and  indeed  to  revive  ancient  forms 

21 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

of  worship  in  the  interests  of  stability 
and  permanence.1  Not  only,  therefore, 
was  there  an  official  pageant-religion  in 
vogue,  to  which  the  crowds  flocked,  but 
an  antiquarian  religion  of  great  interest 
and  even  charm,  which  restored  to  dying 
rites  their  immemorial  halo.  This  joined 
on  directly  to  those  conservative  layers 
of  the  population  which,  among  the  hum- 
bler classes,  and  in  the  country  especially, 
clung  tenaciously  to  ancestral  customs. 
But  of  far  deeper  psychological  importance 
than  this  was  the  invasion  of  Oriental 
cults  and  even  moods.  These  came  in  not 
only  with  the  returning  legions,  but  with 
the  millions  of  slaves  which  flooded  the 
home  provinces  and  Italy,  drawn  chiefly 
from  the  East.  Some  of  these  cults,  like 
that  of  Isis,  became  very  fashionable  ; 
and  every  kind  of  superstition,  especially 
the  more  sensational  and  violent,  fastened 
its  fangs  into  the  brains  of  large  parts  of 
town-society,  which  were  growing  neuras- 

1  The  best  statement  of  the  attitude  of  a  conservative- 
minded  sceptic  towards  the  pragmatic  value  of  the  ancient 
cult,  is  by  Caecilius,  in  the  Octavius  of  Minucius  Felix, 
c .  200.  He  also  accumulates  the  popular  accusations  alluded 
to  below. 

22 


THE  WORLD  FOR  WHICH  HE  WROTE 

thenic.  Moreover,  these  Eastern  cults, 
with  their  other-worldly  idealisms,  their 
initiations  and  penances,  their  tinge  of 
art  and  ecstasy,  their  mystic  priesthoods 
and  their  feminism,  affected  tempera- 
ments left  untouched  by  the  sober  or 
stately  worships  suited  to  Roman  feeling, 
and  indeed  in  some  points  evoked  a  spiri- 
tual response  in  hearts  which  had  never  yet 
so  been  challenged.  Christianity,  alien 
to  all  this,  seemed,  once  more,  hostile 
to  the  whole  Roman  past,  and  indifferent 
to  what  excited  the  enthusiasms  of  the 
present,  and  even  contemptuous  of  what, 
to  many,  seemed  of  real  spiritual  value. 
From  top  to  bottom,  therefore,  of  the 
social  scale  men  diagnosed  in  the  Christian 
an  odium  humani  generis — a  hatred  for  the 
race  at  large  ;  he  appeared  an  "  atheist," 
and,  as  such,  to  be  regarded  with  horror  ; 
and  again,  his  secret  reunions,  his  inexplic- 
able "  clannishness,"  and  vague  rumours 
of  his  midnight  "  love-feasts/ '  gave  rise 
to  the  most  fantastic  suspicions,  as  of 
cannibalism,  murder  and  eating  of  infants, 
of  incest,  of  worship  of  an  ass's  head,  and 
the  like,  in  fevered  brains  to  which  mytho- 

23 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

logy  already  supplied  sufficient  horrors. 
Hence,  those  who  were  supposed  to 
"  hate  "  grew  to  be  violently  hated. 

It  is  clear  that  in  this  official  and 
mechanical  worship,  and  in  these  effer- 
vescing cults  which,  at  their  most  thought- 
ful, issued  only  into  a  sort  of  pantheism, 
Christianity  could  find  little  enough  with 
which  to  sympathize,  nor  even  what  it 
could  satisfactorily  come  to  grips  with. 
Philosophy,  which  provided  Christianity 
with  by  far  its  most  serious,  because  most 
intellectually  reputable,  opponent,  by  a 
strange  paradox  became  also  that  which 
it  could  meet  and  "  talk "  with  most 
easily.  For  philosophy  and  Christianity 
both  professed  to  have  ideas,  or  doctrines, 
on  the  same  subjects  ;  and  in  much  of 
what  philosophy  was  teaching  Chris- 
tianity could  find  elements  which  it  might 
approve.  Anyhow,  two  intelligent  men 
could  meet  and  discuss,  where  a  fanatic,  or 
a  rigid  official  system,  offered  no  ground 
for  an  encounter. 

Of  the  many  philosophical  systems 
which  were  at  this  time  existing,  by  far 
the  most  important  was  Stoicism.     I  give 

H 


THE  WORLD  FOR  WHICH  HE  WROTE 

but  the  barest  indications  of  its  organic 
and  constructive  ideas.  In  two  words,  the 
Stoics  taught  a  dynamic  monism.  That 
is,  the  underlying  principle  of  the  Universe 
(which  was  itself  a  Process)  was  one 
Force.  This  expressed  itself  in  all  existing 
forms,  most  perfectly  in  the  mind  of 
man.  A  "  system,"  or  "  harmony,"  or 
true  Cosmos  (Universal  Order)  was  in 
process  of  formation  ;  and  it  was  the  sole 
business  of  everything,  but  of  man  especi- 
ally, to  adapt  itself  to  this.  For,  while  the 
process  itself,  and  its  ultimate  consum- 
mation, were  inevitable,  yet  you  were 
capable  of  resisting  it.  Detachment,  non- 
resistance,  and  thereby  co-operation  in 
the  Whole,  were,  therefore,  the  Stoic 
ideal.  You  refrained  from  selfish,  de- 
partmental desires  and  efforts,  and  you 
tried  to  subordinate  yourself  to  the  World- 
movement.  The  best  metaphor  the  Stoic 
struck  out  for  his  idea  of  man  was  that  of 
a  dog  tied  to  a  moving  cart.  It  might  run 
with  it,  or  it  might  struggle.  But  always 
it  reached  the  goal  whither  the  Driver 
drove.  And  already  I  have  hinted  at 
what  gave   its  strong   religious  colour  to 

25 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

Roman  Stoicism — its  use  of  divine- 
human  metaphor.  The  unique  immanent 
Force  was  called  God,  and  its  action  was 
conceived  as  that  of  a  Father,  or  Pilot, 
or  Guide,  or  Friend.  Man's  attitude 
towards  it  was  described  as  filial,  and 
towards  his  fellow  subordinates  as  frater- 
nal, and  the  like.  In  the  works  of  Seneca, 
for  example,  all  philosophy  is  flushed  with 
religion  and  becomes  very  human  and 
beautiful.  The  eternal  existence  of  the 
soul  seems  to  have  become  personal  ; 
resistance  takes  the  look  of  sin  ;  obedience 
appears  to  lead  to  "  salvation. "  Moreover, 
the  Force  not  only  in  itself,  but  as 
expressing  itself  in  limited  forms,  was 
called  the  Logos,  and  the  particular  the 
cnrepjjLaTiKos  \dy09,  or  Generative  Logos  ; 
for  not  only  does  logos  mean  the  account 
which  may  be  given  of  a  thing,  but 
that  which  itself  accounts,  as  vital  prin- 
ciple, for  the  thing.  And  so  the  Seed- 
Logos  does  not  only  mean  the  scattered, 
partial  manifestation  of  the  universal  plan 
in  separated  units,  but  the  springing, 
thrusting  activity  within  each  which  causes 
it  to  develop  and  grow  towards  the  supreme 

26 


THE  WORLD  FOR  WHICH  HE  WROTE 

Unification.  That,  then,  which  was  called 
"  God,"  was,  as  "  Logos,"  seen  as  express- 
ing itself  in  limited  forms  and  particularly 
in  man  ;  and  that  in  two  ways.  It  could 
be  regarded  statically  as  expressed  in  man  ; 
and,  dynamically,  as  driving  man  upward, 
from  within,  towards  a  "  divine "  ex- 
pansion and  perfection.  It  was  inevitable, 
then,  that  Christian  thinkers,  in  possession 
of  faith  in  the  Incarnation  and  in  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  well  as  in  the  Eternal  Creator, 
Providence,  and  Goal  of  all  that  is,  should 
fasten  on  these  elements  in  Stoicism  as 
material  for  discussion. 

Epicureanism  (which  has  come  to  be 
popularly  mistaken  for  a  cult  of  pleasure), 
oddly  enough  issued  into  much  the  same 
moral  mood  as  Stoicism  did.  It  was 
interesting  to  start  with,  because  of  its 
singular  anticipations  of  some  fairly 
modern  theories — that  is,  the  atomic  com- 
position of  matter,  and  the  conservation 
of  energy,  and  other  subordinate  hypo- 
theses, including  evolution.  The  Epi- 
cureans believed  the  world  to  consist 
of  an  infinite  number  of  irreducibly  small 
units,  devoid  of  secondary  qualities,  save 

27 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

shape,  moving  at  a  tremendous  speed 
through  space,  swerving  slightly,  clashing, 
cohering,  and  thus  forming  all  more 
complex  unities.  The  gods  themselves 
consisted  of  such  atoms,  though  subtle 
in  the  extreme,  and  were  totally  aloof 
from  coarse  humanity.  Such,  too,  was  the 
soul :  at  death,  it  separated  into  its  com- 
ponent atoms.  The  after-life,  and  its 
terrors,  were  thus  eliminated,  and  so  was 
religion.  But  Epicureanism,  too,  issued 
into  a  moral  attitude  of  ataraxia,  or 
imperturbability,  towards  life,  barely  dis- 
tinguishable from  the  Stoic  apathia^  i.e. 
lack,  or  rather  subordination  of  emotion, 
a  spiritual  "  neutrality."  This  system, 
however,  though  superbly  hymned  by 
Lucretius,  and  approved  by  Horace,  never 
produced  during  the  period  we  are  con- 
sidering any  outstanding  figures  compar- 
able to  the  popular  and  fluent  Seneca,  the 
sublime  and  lovable,  yet  radically  pessimist 
slave-philosopher  Epictetus,  or  the  melan- 
choly agnostic  Emperor,  Marcus  Aurelius 
— for,  after  all,  agnosticism  underlay  most 
of  the  speculative  side  of  all  this  movement; 
yet     these     speculative     elements,    when 

28 


THE  WORLD  FOR  WHICH  HE  WROTE 

"  theologized, "  issued  into  a  pantheistic 
monism,  no  doubt,  a  "  World-soul,"  but 
meanwhile  satisfied  the  religious  sense  ; 
in  life,  they  had  a  pragmatic  value  especi- 
ally suitable  to  a  Roman  during  those 
difficult  generations. 

Along  with  all  this  was  growing  up 
.Gnosticism,  which  combined  philosophy 
with  a  very  real  religion.  Underlying 
it  was  the  belief  that  Spirit  and  Matter 
were  opposed,  as  two  principles,  good  and 
bad  ;  so  utterly,  that  God  could  come  into 
no  sort  of  "  contact  "  with  matter,  and  had 
to  engender  a  whole  series  of  intermediate 
beings  in  order  to  create  the  world.  One 
result  of  this  was,  that  you  violently 
maltreated  the  body  in  order  to  liberate 
the  spirit  ;  or,  again,  that  you  regarded 
the  body  as  so  alien  to  the  spirit  that  it  did 
not  matter  how  it  behaved,  and  this  issued 
into  grave  licence.  Gnosticism  applauded 
all  religions,  as  symbols,  suited  to  the 
vulgar,  of  the  one  Truth  which  was  at  the 
back  of  all  of  them,  and  which  an  elite  of 
purer  souls  "  knew,"  whence  their  name, 
Gnostic.  But  Gnosticism  will  be  more 
fully   dealt   with    in  the  volume   on    St. 

29 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

Irenaeus  ;  its  importance  in  the  history 
of  Christianity  is  very  great,  and  it  sur- 
vives to-day  in  Theosophy.  As  an  element 
in  Neoplatonism,  it  shared  in  the  compre- 
hensive, despairing  onslaught  of  paganism 
upon  the  Christian  Faith. 

Against  these  antagonists,  then,  Chris- 
tianity had  to  defend  itself. 


§   ii 

The  Emperor  Hadrian  sent  a  rescript 
to  Minucius  Fundanus,  by  which  he  did 
not  indeed  sanction  Christianity,  but 
ordered  the  punishment  of  those  who 
accused  the  Christians  falsely,  and  exacted 
a  legal  examination  before  conviction. 
About  the  same  time  a  group  of  Apologies 
or  Defences  reveals  itself.  In  a.d.  125  or 
1 26  a  certain  Quadratus  sent  an  appeal  to 
the  Emperor,  then  at  Athens.  Aristides  is 
said  to  have  given  an  Apologia  to  the 
Emperor  at  the  same  time  ;  but  if,  as 
seems  likely,  it  was  dedicated  to  his 
successor  Antoninus  Pius,  it  may  be  dated 
as  late  as  140.     It  was  thought  to  be  lost, 

30 


THE  WORLD  FOR  WHICH  HE  WROTE 

and  its  discovery  is  one  of  the  sensations 
of  modern  research.1  Ariston  of  Pella 
wrote  a  Dispute  (between  a  Christian  and 
a  Jew)  about  1 3  5,  which  is  lost.  Tatian 
wrote  a  Treatise  addressed  to  the  Greeks, 
about  170  ;  Theophilus  of  Antioch  wrote 
three  books  "  On  the  Resurrection  "  to 
Autolycus,  and  is  to  be  put  between  169 
and  182.  The  Epistle  to  Diognetuswas 
ascribed,  mistakenly  no  doubt,  to  Justin  ; 
Athenagoras  pleaded  on  behalf  of  the 
Christians  about  177  ;  and  a  Hermias 
wrote  an  Irrisio  or  "  mockery  "  of  heathen 
philosophy.  For  the  sake  of  completeness, 
Rhodon,  Melito,  Miltiades,and  Apollinaris 
may  be  mentioned.  They  wrote  before 
Justin,  and  survive,  if  at  all,  in  practically 
useless  fragments.  On  Tertullian,  whose 
apologetic  work  belongs  to  197,  a  separate 
volume  will  be  written,  where  too  Minu- 
cius  Felix  will  be  spoken  of.  But  the 
apologetic  literature  can  be  studied  pro- 
perly only  in  the  works  of  St.  Justin 
(c.  100-165)  although  the  others  will  be 
alluded  to  below,  so  as  to  show  the  current 
of  thought  then  circulating  among  those 

1  See  H.  Lucas,  S.J.,  in  The  Month,  vol.  lxii,  pp.  509-524. 
31 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

Christians  who  undertook  the  intellectual 

defence  of  their  faith. 

*  *  * 

Justin^  son  of  Priscus,  and  grandson 
of  Bacchius,1  was  born  about  ioo  at 
Flavia  Neapolis  (Sichem,  now  Nablus) 
in  Samaria,  of  pagan  parents.  In  search 
of  a  philosophy  of  life,  he  passed  from  the 
Stoics  (whom  he  found,  in  the  last  resort, 
"  agnostic "  about  God),  to  the  Peripa- 
tetics (whom  he  considered  mercenary)  ; 
thence  to  the  Pythagoreans  (who  ex- 
acted a  knowledge  of  astronomy,  music, 
geometry,  and  other  sciences  before  he 
could  rise  to  the  contemplation  of  the 
Good  and  the  Beautiful  as  such)  ;  and, 
finally,  to  the  Platonists,  under  whom  he 
progressed  rapidly  in  abstract  thought,  till 
he  fancied  himself  on  the  verge  of  being 
able  to  contemplate  the  Absolute,  or  God, 
11  which  is  the  good  of  Plato's  philosophy." 
Such,  at  least,  is  the  series  he  relates  in  his 
Dialogue  with  Trypho  (II.  3-6) — with  it  has 

1  Fr.  Lagrange  regards  these  names  as  making  it  probable 
that  St.  Justin's  family  was  Italian  by  origin.  To  this  he 
attributes  some  of  Justin's  qualities,  e.g.  his  frank  simplicity  : 
he  lacks  Greek  suppleness.  Still,  he  grew  up  a  pagan,  not 
discernibly  affected  bySamaritan  influences  {St.  Justin,  p.  3). 

32 


THE  WORLD  FOR  WHICH  HE  WROTE 

been  compared  Miss  A.  Baker's  Modern 
Pilgrim's  Progress  !  —  and  though  this 
account  is  gently  ironical  and  probably 
11  schematized,''  yet  he  was  wide-travelled 
intellectually,  very  sympathetic,  and  loyal 
to  his  love  for  much  that  he  had  learnt. 
At  this  point  he  met  a  mysterious  old  man, 
who  directed  his  attention  to  the  Hebrew 
prophets  ;  their  antiquity,  sublimity,  and 
predictions  joined  with  the  impression 
made  upon  him  by  the  lives,  and  still  more 
by  the  deaths,  of  the  Christians,  and  he 
embraced  their  faith  probably  at  Ephesus. 
He  retained,  however,  his  "philosopher's 
cloak,"  and  moved  about  discoursing  with 
pagans  and  Jews,  and  opened  a  lay  lec- 
ture-room in  Rome.  He  wrote  his  two 
Apologies  about  1 50  1  ;  and  the  dialogue 
with  the  Jew  Trypho  about  152  ;  during 
the  Jewish  war  of  132-135  he  places  its 
dramatic  date.  He  wrote  many  other 
works  which  are  lost  ;  others,  which 
are   referred  to  him,  are  spurious.     It   is 

1  There  is  evidence  suggesting  that  Apology  II.  was  written 
some  time  after  Apology  I.,  and  that  in  the  interval  his 
thought  had  somewhat  developed.  Eusebius,  in  fact, 
places  Ap.  I.  under  Antoninus  Pius,  Ap.  II.  under  Marcu3 
Aurelius. 

d  33 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

curious  to  see  that  Justin's  very  frank 
writings  appear  to  have  done  him  no  harm. 
A  man  was  arrested  for  Christianity  either 
if  he  were  definitely  denounced  or  if  a 
popular  outburst  demanded  it.  It  is  said 
that  a  jealous  philosopher  rival,  the  Cynic 
Crescens,  at  last  denounced  St.  Justin. 
With  certain  other  Christians,  Chariton, 
Charite,  Euelpistos,  Hierax,  Paeon,  and 
Liberianus,  he  was  led  before  the  prefect 
Junius  Rusticus,  a  friend  of  the  Emperor 
Marcus  Aurelius.  The  prefect  treated 
Justin  roughly  ;  he  asked  some  perfunc- 
tory questions  about  Justin's  doctrine, 
and  then  enquired  where  the  Christians 
assembled.  Justin  was  evasive  :  God  was 
everywhere  ;  everywhere,  therefore,  the 
Christians  worshipped  Him  ;  no  need  to 
meet  together.  .  .  .  "  Where,"  the  pre- 
fect asked  point-blank,  "  do  you  assemble 
your  disciples  ?  "  Justin  answered  at  once  : 
near  the  house  of  a  certain  Martin,  along- 
side of  the  baths  of  Timotheos.  "  Are 
you  a  Christian  ?  "  "  Yes."  One  after 
the  other  the  prisoners  confessed  Christ  ; 
Euelpistos,  a  slave  of  Caesar's,  crying  that 
from  Christ  he  had  received  his  liberty. 

34 


THE  WORLD   FOR   WHICH   HE   WROTE 

A  brief  examination  followed.  Whence 
did  the  prisoners  come  ?  Had  Justin 
taught  them  Christianity  ?  All  save 
Hierax,  who  evaded  this,  had  been  taught 
the  faith  by  their  parents.  Rusticus  made 
one  more  effort  to  alarm  St.  Justin.     "  If 

I  scourge  you,  if  I  behead  you,  do  you 
really   think   you   will    go   to   heaven  ?  " 

II  Not  only  do  I  think  it,  but  I  know  it." 
The  prefect  bade  them  all  approach  and 
offer  the  test-sacrifice  to  the  gods.  Justin 
refused  in  the  name  of  all.  Their  sentence, 
were  they  obstinate,  was  read  out  to  them. 
Justin  again  proclaimed  his  faith.  "  Do 
what  you  choose  quickly,"  cried  the 
others.  "  We  are  Christians  ;  we  do  not 
sacrifice  to  idols." 

They  were  condemned,  scourged,  and 
beheaded  ;  their  bodies  being  taken  away 
secretly  by  the  Faithful  "  to  a  suitable 
place."  l 

1  The  Acts  of  St.  Justin  and  his  companions  are  recognized 
as  genuine,  save  perhaps  for  a  few  sentences. 


3S 


Chapter  II 


ST.  JUSTIN'S   "PROLEGOMENA" 

§  i 

The  "  Christian  Fact" 

LL  that  Hadrian's  re- 
script did  for  the  Chris- 
tians was  to  ensure  a 
method  in  accusation, 
and  a  trial.  But  to  be 
proved  a  Christian  was 
to  be  proved  guilty.  So 
Justin  begins  his  Apology  with  an  earnest 
request  that  the  Christians  be  not  con- 
demned on  account  of  their  name  merely, 
but,  if  need  be,  because  of  their  life.  Let 
this  be  examined,  therefore,  and  let  con- 
demnation attend  upon  evidence.  With 
confident  simplicity,  Justin  offers  the 
Christian  life  for  inspection. 

"  We,  who  once  took  pleasure  in  debauchery, 
now  embrace  chastity  alone  ;  we,  who  made 
use  even  of  magic  arts,  now  consecrate  ourselves 

36 


ST.  JUSTIN'S  "PROLEGOMENA" 

to  a  God  who  is  good  and  unbegotten.  We, 
who  loved  beyond  all  things  the  increase  of 
wealth  and  of  possession,  now  put  together 
even  what  we  have  and  share  it  with  all  who 
are  in  need.  We  who  hated  one  another,  and 
murdered  one  another,  we  who  would  not  even 
throw  our  hearths  open  to  those  who  differed 
from  us  in  blood  or  custom,  now,  since  the 
manifestation  of  Christ,  live  together,  pray  for 
our  enemies,  seek  to  win  over  those  who  unjustly 
hate  us  [that  they,  with  us,  may  receive  the 
same  divine  rewards]  "  (i  J  p.  14). 

Christ  condemned  all  impurity,  even  in 
thought : 

"  And  many — men  and  women — who  from 
childhood  have  been  to  school  to  Christ,  have 
remained  to  their  60th  or  70th  year  untainted. 
I  can  boast  that  I  would  show  you  such  in 
every  class  of  society.  And  what  of  the 
innumerable  multitude  of  those  who  have  left 
wantonness  to  learn  this  doctrine  ?  .  .  .  [As 
for  gentleness  and  charity]  I  could  show  you 
many  who  have  lived  among  you  [and  how 
they  have  followed  Christ's  commands  herein]. 
They  have  changed  from  being  violent  and 
tyrannical,  quelled  by  the  austerity  of  their 
neighbour's  life  or  emulating  it,  or  observing 
the  strange  patience  of  their  fellow-wayfarers 
under  injustice,  or  by  experience  of  their 
associates  "  (1  Af.  15,  16). 

37 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

"  Yes,  I  myself,  when  I  was  a  Platonist, 
hearing  the  Christians  spoken  ill  of,  and  seeing 
them  fearless  in  presence  of  death  and  of 
everything  else  which  is  considered  terrible, 
took  thought  that  it  was  impossible  that  they 
should  be  living  in  evil  and  in  love  with 
pleasure  !  For  what  man,  who  loved  pleasures, 
or  was  wanton,  or  thought  it  good  to  feed  on 
human  flesh,  could  welcome  death,  and  support 
the  deprivation  of  all  that  he  valued  ? 

"  [So  I  came]  to  deride  the  lies  and  calumnies 
of  popular  opinion.  I  am  a  Christian  ;  I  own 
to  it ;  I  make  my  boast  of  it ;  I  struggle  might 
and  main  to  be  made  known  as  a  Christian  !  " 
(zAp.  12,  13). 

"  Everywhere  we  try  to  be  the  first  to  pay 
the  tribute  and  taxes  to  the  authorities  you 
institute.  .  .  .  God  alone  do  we  adore,  but  for 
the  rest  we  gladly  obey  yourselves,  recognizing 
you  as  kings  and  governors  of  mankind  and 
praying  that,  together  with  the  supreme  power, 
you  may  be  found  reasonable  and  self-con- 
trolled "  (1  A  p.  17). 

Toleration  based  on  the  idea  of  liberty 
of  conscience  as  such  is  invoked  rather  by 
Tertullian  than  by  the  Greek  Apologists. 
He,  too,  retorts  the  lack  of  loyalty  of 
pagans,  always  a-dream  for  some  new 
Caesar.  Theophilus  (Aut.  I.  11)  is  more 
explicit  than  Justin  on  Caesar-worship  : 

38 


ST.  JUSTIN'S  "PROLEGOMENA" 

"  I  give  special  honour  to  the  Emperor,  but 
I  do  not  worship  him,  but  pray  for  him  !  I 
worship  the  True  and  Living  God  alone, 
knowing  that  it  is  He  who  created  the  Emperor. 
If  I  am  asked, '  Why  not  worship  the  Emperor  ?  ' 
I  answer,  '  Because  he  is  not  made  to  be 
worshipped,  but  to  receive  the  honours  due 
by  law.  For  he  is  not  God  :  he  is  but  a  man 
to  whom  the  management  is,  in  a  limited 
way,  entrusted  by  God,  not  to  be  worshipped, 
but  to  do  justice.  One  may  say,  in  fact,  that 
he  is  but  a  functionary  of  God ;  he  would 
never  allow  his  own  subordinates  to  be  called 
Emperors  :  his  is  the  name  Emperor,  and  no 
one  else  may  bear  it.  Similarly,  it  is  God 
alone  whom  we  may  worship." 

Justin  elsewhere  says : 

"  We  put  up  with  and  support  all  that  men 
and  wicked  spirits  contrive  against  us,  so 
that  even  in  the  midst  of  unspeakable  things, 
death,  tortures,  we  pray  to  God  to  have  mercy 
even  upon  those  who  have  placed  us  in  that 
state,  without  even  entertaining  the  slightest 
thought  of  vengeance  "  (Tr.  18). 

"  We,  who  were  replete  with  war,  murder, 
and  every  evil,  from  all  over  the  earth  we  each 
transform  our  instruments  of  war,  swords  into 
ploughshares,  lances  into  field-tools ;  and  we 
cultivate    piety,    justice,    benevolence,    faith, 

39 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

hope  that  comes  from  the  Father  Himself  by 
means  of  the  Crucified,  seated  each  under  his 
own  vine,  that  is,  faithful  each  to  his  own  one 
wife.  .  .  .  And  that  there  is  no  one  who  can 
reduce  us  to  panic  or  enslave  us — we  who  all  over 
the  earth  have  believed  in  Jesus — is  manifest. 
We  are  beheaded,  we  are  crucified,  thrown  to 
wild  beasts,  enchained,  burned,  and  put  to 
every  other  kind  of  torture.  Everyone  sees 
it.  But,  the  more  all  this  happens,  the  more 
numerous  become  those  who  believe  through 
the  Name  of  Jesus  .  .  .  [Yes,  though]  as  far  as 
depends  on  you  and  all  the  rest,  each  Christian 
is  driven  not  only  from  his  own  possessions,  but 
off  the  very  face  of  the  earth ;  by  you,  a 
Christian  is  not  allowed  to  be  I"  (Tr.  no, 
cf.  121).  "Who  but  Christians  die  for  their 
faith  ?  "  (cf.  93,  96). 

Not  only  the  Christians  are  thus,  in 
their  private  or  domestic  capacities,  so 
right-living  as  to  oblige  a  spectator  to 
notice  the  difference  between  them  and  the 
rest,  but  they  are  active  in  their  wider 
well-doing.  Justin  claims  again  and  again 
that  they  cast  out  evil  spirits.  Whatever 
interpretation  a  modern  materialist  or 
critic  might  put  on  this,  it  is  clear  that 
a  marked  beneficent  influence  must  have 
radiated  from  them,  else,  in  an  apologetic 

40 


ST.  JUSTIN'S  "PROLEGOMENA" 

work,  which  had  no  value  except  in  so  far 
as  it  appealed  to  what  its  readers  would 
acknowledge,  Justin  could  never  have  made 
this  claim  at  all  ;  it  would  simply  have  met 
with  a  denial,  just  as  the  Christian  claim 
to  a  special  moral  standard  and  level  of 
behaviour,  to  extraordinarily  rapid  in- 
crease, and  the  like,  could  not  have  been 
so  constantly  advanced  by  Apologists  as 
an  obvious  and  challenging  fact,  if  it  could 
simply  have  been  denied. 

"  We  [now,  through  Christ]  exorcise 
all  evil  demons  and  spirits  and  hold  them 
submissive  to  us  "  (7V.  76)  is  an  argument 
he  continually  adduces.1 

I  would  add  that  obsession  by  evil 
spirits  was  increasingly  believed  in  at  his 
period.  Magic  wras  used  not  least  for 
their  exorcism  or  invocation,  and  magic 
arts  were  often  not  only  foolish,  but 
obscene  and  even  murderous.  Human 
blood,  children's  especially,  was  used. 
Hence,  when  pagans  levelled  accusations, 
to  us  fantastic,  against  the  Christians,  e.g. 

1Cf.  2  Ap.  6;  Tr.  30,  35,85,  ill,  121 ;  he  did  so  the  more 
willingly  as  he  believed  that  evil  spirits  were  not  yet  finally 
incarcerated  in  hell  (i  Ap.  28).     Cf.  Theoph.  Jut.  II.  8. 

41 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTTR 

cannibalism,  they  said  what  they  knew, 
after  all,  went  on  among  themselves. 

These  and  similar  passages  constitute, 
first,  a  denial  of  the  popular  opinion  of 
Christian  immorality  or  disloyalty  which 
provided  persecution  with  its  excuse. 
But  they  go  further:  they  state  that 
Christian  morality  was  in  itself  so  high, 
so  outstanding,  as  to  constitute  forthwith 
a  positive  argument.  At  least,  the  Chris- 
tian folk  is  something  extraordinary  and 
indeed  unique.  But  more  than  this : 
Christian  behaviour  flows,  as  Justin  em- 
phasizes in  i  Ap.  15-17,  not  from  a 
philosophical  system  created  by  the  Chris- 
tians themselves,  but  directly  from  the 
authoritative  maxims  of  Christ  Himself. 
In  living  as  they  do,  they  are  obeying 
Him.  Transcendent,  then,  must  He  be 
who  caused  in  them  such  transcendence. 
In  this  you  find  no  flavour  of  arrogance  or 
boasting,  but  a  humble  recognition  that 
what  they  have  they  owe.  To  acknow- 
ledge their  possession  is  to  glorify  its 
source.  This  appeal  to  the  concrete,  to 
an  observable  behaviour  normally  higher 
than  the  co-naturally   possible — in    other 

42 


ST.  JUSTIN'S  "PROLEGOMENA" 

words,  to  start  thus  by  envisaging  the 
Christian  Fact,  and  finding  it  to  be  what 
it  is — is  a  hint  which  Apologetics  have 
never  quite  forgotten.1 

*  *  * 

Justin's  Apology  contains  some  fragments  of 
incomparable  liturgical  value.  Not  content 
with  denying  the  accusations  brought  against 
Christians'  rites,  he  indicates  in  outline  what 
they  really  are.  But  this  does  not  enter  into 
his  peculiar  contribution  to  Christian  thought 
as  such.  He  twice  alludes  to  Baptism  (i  A  p.  61 ; 
Tr.  14,  cf.  43),  and  is  quite  clear  about  the 
supernatural  rebirth  which  it  imparts.  He 
refers  to  the  invocation  of  the  Trinity,  dis- 
tinguishes   it    from    Jewish    ritual    ablutions, 

1  It  would  have  been  difficult  for  the  Christians  to  prove 
a  negative  ;  i.e.  that  they  did  none  of  the  things  popular 
rumour  ascribed  to  them.  Athenagoras,  however  {Leg.  35), 
makes  a  good  point.  The  essence  of  these  hideous  assemblies 
was  said  to  be  their  secrecy.  So  not  one  eye-witness  could 
be  adduced.  Not  even  the  slaves  of  the  Christians,  who 
could  not  but  have  seen  what  happened,  could  provide 
evidence.  Athenagoras  goes  further  than  Justin  in  the 
positive  assertion  of  Christian  ethic.  Christians  will  not  be 
present  at  a  man's  (unjust)  death,  and  abstain,  therefore, 
from  the  Circus.  Abortion  they  hold  for  a  crime  (ib.  33,  35, 
36 ;  cf.  Theoph.  Jut. III.  15).  For  Justin's  retort :  "Paganism 
practises  openly  what  we  are  accused  of  doing  in  secret," 
cf.  infra,  p.  126  (cf.  Ath.  Leg.  32,  34.).  Tertullian's  rebuttal 
and  retorts  will  be  dealt  with  in  the  volume  upon  his  works. 
It  is  he  and  Minucius  Felix  who  allude  to  the  story  of  ass- 
worship  ;  a  grafito  preserved  in  Rome  possibly  pictures  it. 

43 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

connects  it  with  our  Lord's  discourse  in  St. 
John  iii,  perceives  it  prophesied  in  the  Old 
Testament  (cf.  Theophil.  Aut.  II.  16)  and 
gives  it  its  early  Christian  name,  <£amcr/A05, 
illumination.  He  is  no  less  clear  about  the 
Eucharist.  In  i  Ap.  65  he  outlines  the  primitive 
Mass ;  describes  the  distribution,  by  deacons, 
of  the  "  eucharistized "  Bread  and  Cup  of 
mingled  wine  and  water,  and  the  carrying  of 
these  to  the  absent.  No  one  who  does  not 
fully  believe,  has  not  been  baptized,  or  is  in  a 
state  of  sin,  may  receive  Communion  :  "  even 
as  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour,  being  made  flesh 
by  the  Word  of  God,  took  flesh  and  blood  for 
our  salvation,  even  so,  we  have  been  taught, 
*  eucharistized  '  by  the  formula  of  prayer  which 
comes  from  Him,  this  food,  which  by  way  of 
[or,  in  view  of  ?]  assimilation,  nourishes  our 
flesh  and  blood,  is  the  Flesh  and  Blood  of 
Jesus  incarnate "  (1  Ap.  66).  Here  (as  in 
Tr.  70;  cf.  41  and  1 17)  he  alludes  to  the 
institution  of  the  Eucharist  at  the  Last  Supper, 
and  links  it  clearly  to  sacrificial  types  in  the 
Old  Testament,  and  definitely  states  that 
Malachi  i  10-12  predicts  the  sacrifices  offered 
by  us  in  all  places — that  is,  the  Bread  and  the 
Chalice  of  the  Eucharist.  In  1  Ap.  29  and 
elsewhere  the  Christian  law  of  marriage  fidelity, 
and  even  the  practice  of  disapproving  second 
marriages,  are  strongly  asserted,  and  the  ideal 
of  consecrated  chastity  affirmed.     (Cf.  Athen. 

44 


ST.  JUSTIN'S  "PROLEGOMENA" 

Leg*  33  :  "  You  will  find  many  among  us,  both 
men  and  women,  who  grow  old  unmarried  in 
the  hope  of  closer  companionship  with  God.") 

Connected  with  this  is  the  condemnation  of 
abortion,  and,  we  need  to  point  out,  of  that 
exposure  of  unwanted  children  to  death,  which 
we  so  seldom — accustomed  to  our  own  circum- 
scribed respect  for  child-life — remember  as 
having  been  a  quite  normal  pagan  practice. 
Exposed  children,  the  Apologists  continually 
repeat,  either  die,  or  grow  up  to  prostitution, 
to  whichever  sex  they  belong.  Supernatural 
religion  herein  has  twice  and  thrice  over 
rescued  human  nature. 

Of  interest,  too,  is  the  description  of  the 
Sunday  reunions,  and  of  the  social  life  of  the 
Christians,  of  which  Aristides  too  (15-17)  and 
the  Epistle  to  Diognetus  (5-6)  give  a  vivid 
picture.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that,  supple- 
menting Justin  and  the  Greek  Apologists  by 
Tertullian  chiefly,  we  can  see  the  place  held  in 
this  primitive  Church  by  the  sacrament,  too,  of 
penance.  But  the  descriptions  of  these  practices 
would  lie  outside  the  framework  of  this  book. 


Now  the  argument  supplied  by  the  lives 
of  the  Christians  had  not  only  a  static 
value,  so  that  to  attack  them  should  seem 
unreasonable,  but  a  dynamic  one,  in  that 
it  prepared  the  will  to  think  well  of  them, 

45 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

and,  if  of  them,  so  also  of  their  doctrines. 
On  the  right  mood,  or  good  will,  in  an 
enquirer,  Justin  is  very  strong.  He  had 
learnt  this  himself  from  the  mysterious 
"  old  man  "  at  Ephesus. 

"  Above  all,"  he  had  said  to  Justin,  "  pray 
that  the  gates  of  light  may  be  opened  to  thee. 
For  not  to  all  men  are  these  things  made  visible 
and  intelligible,  but  only  to  him  to  whom  God 
and  His  Christ  grant  understanding "  (Tr.  7). 

Thus  he  devotes  the  beginning  of  his 
Apology  to  suggesting  to  his  readers  that 
they  are  "  lovers  of  truth"  anxious ',  there- 
fore, to  see  it  and  follow  it,  and  will  shun 
prejudice,  impulse,  and  rumours  (1  Ap. 
2,3,  12). 

"  We  have  been  taught,  and  we  are  convinced, 
and  we  believe,  that  God  accepts  those  who 
imitate  His  perfections,  purity,  justice,  and 
kindliness  and  all  that  is  akin  to  God,  who  by 
no  [such]  created  Names  may  Himself  be 
named  :  we  must  pursue  what  pleases  Him, 
freely  choosing  it  by  means  of  the  reasoning 
faculty  which  He  Himself  has  given  us ;  and 
we  think  that  no  man  ought  by  any  means  to 
be  shut  off  from  learning  about  it,  but,  on  the 
contrary,    encouraged    to    do    so "    (IV.    10). 

46 


ST.  JUSTIN'S  "PROLEGOMENA" 

14  [Our  arguments]  are  able  to  convey  faith 
together  with  reason  to  those  who  welcome 
Truth,  and  are  not  in  love  with  opinions  nor 
governed  by  their  passions  "  (i  Ap.  53). 

It  is  difficult,  when  one  is  passionately 
convinced  that  this  or  that  is  true,  to 
admit  the  good  faith  of  an  opponent 
who  is  intelligent.  Justin  boldly  says 
that  Crescens  either  knows,  and  will  not 
(through  fear,  or  other  passion)  admit  the 
truth  ;  or  will  not  know  it  nor  take  means 
to  know  it  (2  Ap.  3).  The  Jews,  in 
particular,  are  wilfully  blind.1 

"  You  are  not  disposed  to  understand  what 
I  say ;  yet  I  will  continue  to  answer  though 
you  are  in  bad  dispositions  .  .  ."  (TV.  64). 
"  God  knows  the  mood  in  which  you  have  set 
forth  your  difficulty  "  (ib.  65). 

In  Tr.  1 20  he  makes  a  strange  applica- 
tion of  the  simile  of  "  sand  "  as  applied  to 
the    Jewish    race.     He    insists    that    the 

1  It  has  been  asked  how  far  the  anti-Jew  Apologies  were 
really  meant  for  Jews,  as  the  anti-pagan  treatises  are  for 
real  pagans,  or  whether  they  chiefly  aim  at  confirming  the 
Christian's  faith. 

47 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

majority  of  it  is  sterile  :  it  laps  up  "  bitter 
waters/'  and  produces  no  fruit,  as  sand 
soaks  up  the  sea.  And  when  he  asks  why 
this  sterility  is  there,  and  this  blindness 
on  their  heart,  he  answers,  because  of  their 
cowardice,  though,  most  of  all,  God's 
judgement  (7V.  9,  38,  120,  140  ;  39,  55). 
But,  as  we  shall  see,  he  also  admits  that 
the  prophecies,  from  which  they  should 
have  learnt,  are  obscure.  For  the  present, 
however,  I  want  to  make  clear  that  he 
declares  that  the  study  of  Christianity  can- 
not succeed  if  it  be  approached  in  the 
wrong  spirit.  "  When  a  man  is  petrified," 
asked  Epictetus, "  how  then  shall  we  argue 
with  him  ?  "  {Dial.  I.  5)  ;  and  Persius 
himself  could  write  of  a  man  being 
"  dazed  "  with  vice. 

But  Justin  is  reasonable.  He  is,  on  the 
whole,  negative.  You  must  not,  he  insists, 
start  with  a  fixed  determination  that 
your  opponent's  argument  shall  not  prove 
true.  He  does  not  beg  the  question : 
when  the  old  man  tells  him  to  pray  for 
light,  that  is  because  Justin's  position 
already  allows  him  to  do  so  ;  when  Justin, 
arguing  with  the  Jews,  appeals  to  this  or 

48 


ST.  JUSTIN'S  "PROLEGOMENA" 

that,  which  an  unbeliever  would  not 
admit,  it  is  because  the  Jews  already  do, 
or  should,  admit  it.  When,  whatever 
Justin  says,  Tryphon's  Jew  companions 
keep  bursting  into  laughter,  Justin  sees 
this  as  indecent,  and  arguing  an  antecedent 
contempt,  as  bad,  in  its  way,  as  the  arrests 
and  condemnations  made  without  evidence 
by  pagans,  and  implying  antecedent  hatred. 
Justin  does  not  go  so  far  as  Pascal,  who  said, 
"  Start  by  l  taking  holy  water  '  .  .  .  you 
will  soon  believe  "  ;  or  as  Fr.  de  Ravignan, 
who,  to  French  sceptics,  would  issue 
orders  :  "  Kneel  down,  go  to  confession  ; 
you  will  find  you  have  the  faith  "  ;  for 
Pascal  and  the  Jesuit  both  assumed  that 
the  self-styled  sceptic  really  believed  all 
the  while  ;  and  their  method  is  legitimate 
in  men  who  can  trust  their  intuitions :  but 
Justin  only  asked,  first,  that  a  disputant 
should  not  start  by  condemning,  for  no 
reason,  or  for  insufficiently  examined 
reasons,  what  the  Christians  taught  ;  and 
even,  that  he  should  advance  to  the 
discussion  with  that  measure  of  sympathy 
and  good-will  which  alone  enables  one  to 
disengage  and  assimilate  that  element  of 
e  49 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

truth  which  exists  in  anything  that  exists 
at  all.1 

In  saying  this  Justin  was  grasping  a 
principle  of  permanent  importance  in  all 
future  Christian  apologetic,  and  of  para- 
mount value  to  himself  in  a  special 
department  of  his  own. 

§    ii 

The  "  Prophetic  Fact  " 

No  one  can  fail  to  notice  what  an 
impression  was  made  on  Justin  by  Hebrew 

1  Other  Apologists  demand,  if  anything,  less  (Tatian, 
Or.  35,  cf.  30,  32,  423).  But  Theophilus  (Jut.  I.  2)  exacts, 
in  the  searcher  after  truth,  purity,  too,  of  heart  as  well  as 
good  faith  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  "  If  you  say  to 
me  :  '  Show  me  your  God,'  I  will  answer,  ■  Show  me  your 
real  self  and  I  will  show  you  my  God.'  That  is,  show  me 
if  the  eyes  of  your  soul  see,  and  if  the  ears  of  your  heart 
hear.  [Bodily  eyes  distinguish  colours,  shapes ;  the  ear, 
sounds ;  if,  that  is,  they  be  but  healthy.]  Similarly,  God 
shows  Himself  to  those  who  have  their  soul's  eyes  open.  .  .  . 
A  man  must  have  his  soul  pure  like  a  well-polished  mirror. 
If  there  is  dust  on  a  mirror  it  cannot  reflect  man's  face :  so 
too,  if  there  be  sin  in  a  man,  he  cannot  contemplate  God  " 
(Jut.  I.  2).  "  If  you  choose,  however,  you  can  be  healed  : 
give  yourself  over  to  your  Physician  ;  He  will  operate  on  the 
eyes  of  your  soul  and  heart."  This  self-tradition  is  the 
more  important  because  in  some  matters  we  must  simply 
accept  God's  revelation,  as  the  patient  trusts  to  the  wisdom 
and  authority  of  his  doctor  (ib.  7). 

50 


ST.  JUSTIN'S  "PROLEGOMENA" 

prophecy.  For  him,  it  was  not  only  more 
ancient  than  all  pagan  philosophy  and 
oracles,  but  far  better. 

"  When  Plato  said,  '  The  guilt  is  in  the 
will :  God  is  guiltless,'  he  borrowed  this 
from  Moses  :  for  Moses  was  earlier,  earlier  in- 
deed than  any  Greek  author.  And  whatever 
philosophers  or  poets  have  said  about  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  or  punishments  after 
death,  or  the  contemplation  of  heavenly  things, 
or  similar  doctrines,  they  derived  their  principles 
from  the  prophets,  and  this  was  how  they  were 
able  to  conceive  these  ideas  and  to  proclaim 
them"  (i  Ap.  44).  "  Plato  obtained  his 
doctrine  of  creation  "  from  our  teachers — that 
is,  from  the  word  spoken  through  the  prophets. 
.  .  .  "  Why,  even  the  so-called  Erebos  of  the 
poets,  we  know  it  was  spoken  of  earlier  by 
Moses "  (ib.  59).  As  for  Plato's  doctrine  in 
the  Timaeus,  Plato  "  read  "  it  in  Moses,  but 
did  not  understand  it  accurately  (60 ;  cf.  Tr.  7). 

Tatian,  indeed,  undertakes  to  prove 
(Or,  31,  36,  42)  that  the  Old  Testament  is 
older  than  Homer  ;  Theophilus  (Aut.  II. 
9,  III.  20,  24,  30)  elaborates  this  argu- 
ment, and  Clement  of  Alexandria  and 
Eusebius  will  allude  to  it  with  praise. 
And  indeed,  it  was  a  regular  part  of  Jewish 

51 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

apologetic,  and  much  used  by  Philo.1 
Criticism  may  not  admit,  to-day,  so 
sweeping  an  assertion  ;  but  in  two  ways 
Justin  would,  I  think,  have  eluded  its 
attack.  He  would  have  appealed  to  his 
general  theory  of  knowledge  by  reason  of 
our  participation  in  the  Word  or  Wisdom 
of  God, scattered  and  germinative  through- 
out the  Universe.  But  this  Word  existed 
far  more  completely  in  the  prophets,  and 
fully,  because  personally,  in  Christ  ;  there- 
fore, whoever  in  his  measure  spoke  truth, 
did  so  by  participation  in  that  Spirit  which 
spoke  pre-eminently  in  Hebrew  prophecy 
and  uniquely  in  Christ.  But  of  this 
below.  He  would,  however,  have  also 
said  that  the  antiquity  of  the  prophets  was 
but  incidental  to  their  office,  which  was 
predictive  ;  and,  while  most  Apologists 
are  fairly  vague  in  their  elaboration  of  this, 
Justin,  who  has  an  extraordinarily  minute 

1  Cf.  J.  Martin,  Pbilon,  1907,  pp.  43-44.  Tatian  (c.  40), 
Theophilus  (Jut.  I.  14)  Cohortatio  ad  Graecos,  etc.,  all  dwell 
on  the  priority  of  Moses,  from  whom  philosophy  and  myth 
alike  "lifted"  what  they  tell.  Theophilus,  however,  adds  (II. 
38)  that  the  question  of  date  is  secondary,  since  the  doctrine 
taught  is  the  same.  Tatian  actually  seeks  to  prove  at  great 
length  the  indebtedness  of  Homer,  etc.,  to  Moses  (31,  36-42). 

52 


ST.  JUSTIN'S  "PROLEGOMENA" 

knowledge  of  the  Old  Testament,  is  able 
to  draw  from  it  all  but  a  "  life  of  Christ  " 
in  outline.  In  i  Ap.  31,  53,  he  practically 
writes  out  the  Creed,  and  says  each  article 
was  prophesied.  In  cc.  32-35,  38,  48-50, 
52,  he  works  this  out  in  detail.  In  the 
Dialogue  with  Trypho,  since  Trypho  is 
a  Jew  and  knows  his  own  literature,  Justin 
can  appeal  to  more  than  what  he  can 
use  in  discussion  with  pagans,  namely,  to 
inspiration  and  the  symbolic  sense.  But 
this  brings  us  back  to  what  we  said  above — 
he  insists  that  the  prophecies  are  in  them- 
selves obscure  ;  and  that,  though  they 
create  "  a  very  powerful  and  most  true 
demonstration,"  yet  they  will  never  be 
understood  by  an  ill-prepared  intelligence. 
Christ's  death  was  announced  under 
veils :  in  fact,  it  could  be  understood 
by  no  one  until  He  Himself  persuaded 
His  apostles  that  all  these  things  were 
announced  explicitly  in  the  Scriptures 
(TV.  76). 

"  The  prophets,  as  you  acknowledge,  wrapt 
up  all  they  said  or  did  in  parables  and  symbols, 
so  that  most  of  it  should  not  be  easily  under- 
stood by  all ;    they  hid  the  truth  that  was  in 

53 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

them  so  that  enquirers  might  take  trouble  in 
their  search,  and  so  learn  "  (Tr.  90).  "  Do  you 
think  we  should  have  been  able  to  perceive  all 
these  meanings  in  the  Scriptures  if  we  had  not 
received  the  grace  to  understand  by  the  will 
of  Him  who  willed  [that  they  should  be 
written]?"  (Tr.  119).  "  We  have  found," 
Trypho  ends  by  owning,  "  more  [in  the 
Scriptures]  than  we  expected  or  than  it  was 
ever  possible  to  expect  "  (Tr.  142). " 

I  think  he  relies  so  much  on  prophecies, 
in  part,  because  they  are  accessible.  Our 
Lord  Himself  was  not.  Else  Justin  would 
have  appealed  more  often  to  the  actual  per- 
son of  Jesus  and  His  life  (but  cf.  infra, 
p.  112).  He  does  this  in  effect  when  he 
says  that  Christians  lead  the  life  they  do 
(supra,  p.  42)  because  they  are  obeying 
the  historical  commands  of  a  person — that 
is,  the  incomparably  perfect  Jesus  ;  and 
explicitly,  when  he  cries  that  even  were 
Jesus  but  a  mere  mortal  "  He  would,  for 
His  wisdom,  be  wrorthy  to  be  called  a  Son 

1  Lagrange,  op.  cit.,  p.  29,  says  that  a  Jewish  writer,  Gold- 
fahn,  has  shown  that  in  most  cases  rabbinic  literature  confirms 
the  suitability  of  what  Justin  puts  into  the  mouth  of  his 
Jewish  adversaries.  Justin's  equity  and  courtesy  are  the 
more  remarkable  as  he  knows  well  that  the  Jews  instigated 
persecution  whenever  they  could  (Tr.  16,  17). 

54 


ST.  JUSTIN'S  "PROLEGOMENA" 

of  God  "  (i  Ap.  22);  but  it  is  easier  for  him 
to  appeal  to  what  Christ  did  than  to  what 
He  was,  namely,  His  miracles  (1  Ap.  48  ; 
22,  30,  31,  etc.)  ;  yet  even  of  these,  the 
most  accessible  was  that  precisely  which  the 
pagans  had  under  their  eyes,  the  progres- 
sive Conversion  of  the  World — not  only 
a  miracle  in  itself,  but  a  miracle  in 
fulfilment  of  prophecy  (1  Ap.  41,  42  ; 
Tr.  53).  Devils  are  defeated  ;  martyrs 
defeat  death.  Who  died  j or  Socrates  ?  Not 
one  (2  Ap.  10).  "We  joyfully  confess 
Christ,  and  die  for  it  "  (1  Ap.  39).1 

What  Justin  did,  then,  was  to  assert 
this  main  principle  :  Christianity  can  be 
defended  reasonably  :  Faith  and  Reason 
are  not  discordant.  And,  to  provide  a 
method  :  Observe  facts,  and  study  them 
in  the  right  spirit.  Both  parts  of  this  have 
been   lastingly    important.     It    is    untrue 

1  The  massive  value  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  manifestly 
superior  to  pagan  systems,  is  best  set  out  by  Theophilus, 
and  is  used,  along  with  its  antiquity,  to  turn  the  pagans'  eyes 
in  the  right  direction.  But,  on  the  whole,  it  is  used  in  its 
prophetic  character,  as  a  direct  argument  for  belief,  rather 
than  for  its  moral  value,  and  as  calculated  to  evoke  good-will 
towards  further  study.  The  pagans  were  accustomed  to  the 
idea  of  Oracle,  and  the  argument  from  prophecy  evoked  no 
antecedent  repugnance. 

55 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

to  say,  as  some  have  said,  that  Justin  trans- 
formed Christianity  from  a  sentiment  into 
a  philosophy  ;  but  he  once  and  for  all  made 
impossible,  within  the  Church,  the  success 
of  those  who  shrank  from  duly  applying 
reason  to  the  mysteries  of  faith.  Other 
writers  might  prefer  just  to  prove  Chris- 
tians innocent  of  crime,  and  paganism 
criminal.  Justin  gave  Celsus,  the  first 
systematic  enemy  of  the  Faith,  no  excuse 
for  his  assertion  that  it  was  impossible  to 
argue  with  the  Christians,  since — "  they 
merely  repeated,  *  Believe,  believe  ;  thy 
faith  will  save  thee.'  " 

As  for  his  method,  it  involved,  at  first ', 
no  appeal  to  authority.  He  pointed  to 
concrete  fact,  and  said,  "  Look  at  that  !  " 
And,  with  sound  psychology,  he  demanded 
that  facts  should  be  looked  at  in  the 
only  mood  which  gave  promise  of  their 
being  understood.  He  is  not  excluding, 
assuredly,  the  co-operation  of  God  and 
His  grace  ;  but  he  is  demanding  that 
element  of  good-will  which  is  necessary 
in  all  who  are  examining  a  moral  proof — 
who  are  not,  that  is,  to  meet  with  evidence 
that  must  needs  coerce  assent,  but  which, 

56 


ST.  JUSTIN'S  "PROLEGOMENA" 

for  due  interpretation,  demands  a  due 
disposition  of  the  student's  mood. 

Although  these  principles  have  to  be 
disentangled  from  Justin's  writings,  and 
though  some  of  their  applications  may  not 
appeal  to  us  in  detail,  yet  they  are  present, 
and  had  never  been  really  laid  down, 
as  far  as  we  can  see,  by  anyone  before. 
The  relation  of  Reason  to  Revelation  had 
never  been  properly  discussed,  nor  the  pro- 
blem, even,  adequately  formulated.  Justin 
makes  it  amply  clear  that  Christianity  is 
not  mere  rationalism,  nor  yet  is  it  a 
sentimental  mysticism.  We  are  "  taught  " 
— the  word  keeps  recurring  throughout 
his  work  :  Christianity  is  for  him  utterly 
authoritative  :  there  is  no  question  here 
of  individualism,  of  each  man's  con- 
structing his  own  faith  ;  or  of  evolving 
a  religion  to  suit  his  level  of  knowledge  or 
mood  :  but,  we  have  reason  to  trust  the 
Teacher.1 

What,  then,  did  his  Christianity  teach  ? 


1  The  treatise  On  the  Resurrection,  though  not  St.  Justin's, 
as  was  once  supposed,  contains  this  really  remarkable  line  of 
argument.  After  declaring,  "  No  department  of  truth  but 
has  been  calumniously  interfered  with  :   the  essence  of  God, 

57 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

the  knowledge  of  God,  His  energy,  and  everything  which 
follows  from  these  in  logical  series.  .  .  .  Some  totally  and 
once  for  all,"  it  declares,  "  deny  the  existence  of  truth  about 
these  things ;  others  twist  it  this  way  and  that  to  suit  their 
opinions ;  others  deliberately  reduce  to  uncertainty  even 
the  obvious.  The  True  Doctrine  is  free  and  independent. 
It  refuses  to  submit  to  the  limitations  of  an  argument,  or 
to  depend  for  its  acceptance  on  any  demonstration.  Its 
intrinsic  sublimity  and  the  authority  of  its  source  create  a 
duty  of  belief  in  its  teacher.  Now  that  is  God.  .  .  .  All 
•proofs  are  stronger  and  more  worthy  of  credence  than  what 
is  proved.  But  there  is  nothing  higher  than  Truth.  Truth 
is  God.  Therefore  you  cannot  prove  divine  Truth ;  you 
must  believe  it.  Now  God  revealed  Himself,  i.e.  Truth, 
through  Jesus  Christ,  His  Word  made  flesh.  Therefore  He 
is  alike  the  reason  for  believing  and  the  proof  of  the  thing 
believed.  For  His  disciples,  faith  in  Him  takes  the  place  of 
proofs.  But,  for  the  sake  of  others,  we  must  seek  for  proofs, 
though  this  is  in  some  sense  to  do  a  wrong  to  the  Divine 
Truth  "  {de  Resurr.  I.  5).  Athenagoras  {de  Resurr.  I.  11) 
insists  that  our  duty  towards  truth  is  double  :  to  state  and 
explain  it — and  that  ought  to  suffice,  and  does,  for  "  right " 
souls ;  and  to  defend  it  for  the  sake  of  those  whose  souls  are 
too  ill-disposed  a  field  to  receive  the  good  grain.  "  He  who 
would  teach  the  truth  cannot  convince  a  man  merely  by 
exposing  it,  if  any  untrue  belief  be  '  at  the  back  of  '  his 
hearer's  mind  and  interfere  with  what  he  teaches."  These 
passages  are  quoted  fully  in  Riviere,  op.  cit.  pp.  154-157, 
and  are  admirable  for  logic  and  psychology. 


58 


Chapter  III 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE 
APOLOGISTS 


God 

iUSTIN  had,  first  and 
foremost,  to  declare  the 
Christian  belief  in  God. 
The  Christians  were 
called  atheists  ;  the  Ro- 
man Empire  had  lost 
;  any  clear  belief  in  God  ; 
certain  philosophical  systems  included 
sound  elements  to  which  he  could  appeal : 
without  a  clear  notion  of  what  Christians 
meant  by  "  God,"  it  was  idle  to  discuss 
further  articles  of  their  Creed.  For  these 
four  reasons  he  had  to  allow  no  misappre- 
hension of  this  point. 

The  mass  of  men  who  attacked  the 
Christians'  "  atheism,"  were,  after  all, 
increasingly  the  victims  of  polytheism  : 
wherever   they   went,   they   learnt   about 

59 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

new  gods  ;  heroes,  too,  and  daemons  ex- 
acted worship.  It  was  rare  that  worship 
was  pure  ;  it  was  often  bloodthirsty  and 
obscene  :  cult  was  worse  than  conscience. 
Now,  although  the  religious  language  of 
the  Stoics  could  be  at  once  sublime  and 
tender,  passionate,  even,  yet  homely, 
this  school  of  thought  not  only  tolerated 
and  in  fact  encouraged  the  popular  rituals 
as  suited,  precisely,  to  the  people,  but,  in 
the  long  run,  acknowledged  that  all  it  said 
about  "  God  "  or  the  "  gods  "  was  alle- 
gorical— metaphorical,  at  any  rate,  and  a 
condescension  to  popular  ways  of  talking, 
and  that  the  Ultimate  had  nothing  in  it 
that  could   be  called  personal. 

A  Stoic  told  Justin  that  he  had  no 
knowledge  about  God,  and  that  it  was 
unnecessary.  The  Stoic  God,  in  the 
world,  was  no  more  than  a  world-force  ; 
and,  in  the  soul,  no  more  than  a  depart- 
mental throb,  so  to  say,  of  the  universal 
pulse.  The  "  gods  "  of  the  Stoic  were, 
as  even  Plutarch  saw,  gods  but  of  wax  and 
tin,  destined  to  melt  in  the  final  conflagra- 
tion ;  and  if  it  was  into  the  Unknown  Ulti- 
mate they  melted,  that  implied  that  It  too 

60 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

changed,  and    thus  was  not  infinite,  but 
perishable. 

In  speaking  with  the  Jews,  the  Apolo- 
gists had  no  need  to  linger  on  the  true  idea 
to  be  formed  of  God.  That,  except  what 
the  Christian  revelation  added,  the  Jews 
possessed,  though  actually  their  "  philo- 
sophers M  and  even  rabbis  were  pushing 
it  back  to  the  Unnameable  and  ail-too 
Inaccessible.  But,  in  arguing  with  the 
pagans,  the  Apologists  could  take  two 
courses :  they  could  prove  that  the 
popular  idea  of  the  gods  was  an  unworthy 
one,  and  this  was  easy  ;  everyone  would 
have  agreed  ;  we  need  not  illustrate  it — 
or,  they  could  use  philosophical  language  ; 
and  though,  on  the  whole,  they  do  not 
labour  to  prove  God's  absolute  inde- 
pendence, transcendence,  spirituality,  and 
creatorship,  they  assert  them  ;  and  even, 
Justin  will  very  properly  point  out  that 
the  knowledge  we  have  of  Him  is  true, 
yet  "  analogical/'  inadequate — that  is, 
by  reason  of  deficiency  in  the  knowing 
instrument,  our  mind. 

"  The  true  .  .  .  immutable  eternal  God,  pro- 
genitor of  all  things  "  (i  Af.  13),  "  the  Creator 

61 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

and  the  Father  of  the  Universe,  has  no  names 
[that  is,  no  human  appellation  adequately 
states  His  essential  nature],  for  He  is  Un- 
begotten  "  (2  Af.  6)  ;  "  these  names,  Father, 
God,  Creator,  Lord,  Master  are  not  names 
but  appellations  based  on  His  works  and 
beneficence  "  (ib.).1 

"  Yet  we  believe  in  a  most  true  God,  the 
Father  of  Righteousness,  Wisdom  [that  is,  the 
Wisdom  which  issues  into  self-control  :  in 
practice,  Purity]  and  the  other  virtues  :  God 
unmixed  with  any  evil  "  (1  Af.  6)  ;  f<  it  is  He 
who  provides  all  things.  .  .  .  He  approves  those 
who  imitate  His  perfections  .  .  .  [though]  Him 
no  created  name  can  truly  name  "  (1  Ap.  10). 

Tatian  (Or.  4-5),  like  Justin,  puts  his 
doctrine  on  the  whole  in  the  shape  of  a 
profession  of  faith  ;  but  some  of  the 
Apologists  argue,  first,  from  the  works 
of  God,  i.e.  creation  and  the  order 
discernible  therein,  to  the  existence  and 
spirituality  of  God  (Theoph.,  Aut.  I. 
5-6).  Athenagoras  insists  on  His  trans- 
cendence :  do  not  worship  His  world — 
not  the  harp  is  crowned,  however  beautiful 
the  music  drawn  from  it,  but  the  harpist 

1  Theophilus  {Aut.  I.  3-4)  is  much  fuller,  and  rises  from 
the  "  Names "  of  God  to  every  one  of  His  attributes  which 
in  His  essence  we  discern. 

62 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

(see  Ath.,  Leg.  15-16).  It  is  he,  too,  who 
explicitly  proves  the  Unity  of  God  as 
against  polytheism  (ib.  18). 

For  Justin's  own  age,  an  important 
deduction  could  at  once  be  made  from  the 
spirituality  of  God  :  namely,  the  duty  of 
spiritual  worship.  This  was  applicable  to 
pagan  and  Jew  alike.  Indeed,  Justin  bears 
almost  too  hard  upon  the  Jews.  He  makes 
it  clear,  we  saw,  that  the  Christian  worship 
of  his  day  was  fully  sacramental.  This 
was  reasonable  since,  though  God  is 
spirit,  man  is  not  wholly  so,  and  not  only 
requires  to  express  himself  through  matter, 
but  must  needs  do  so  ;  for,  relatively  to 
God,  even  words,  even  thoughts,  are  gross, 
and  in  that  sense  material :  "  symbols/' 
though  true  symbols.  Still,  in  the  in- 
terests of  spirituality,  he  decries  all  Jewish 
worship,  and  quotes  Old  Testament  pas- 
sages which  deprecate  ritual  regarded  as 
sufficient^  as  though  they  prohibited  it. 
The  Trypho  is  naturally  full  of  this  :  I  will 
quote  one  more  general  passage  only  : 

"  We  adore  the  Fashioner  of  the  universe, 
asserting,  as  we  have  been  taught,  that  He  has 
no  need  of  blood-offerings,  libations,  incense  ; 

63 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

we  praise  Him  with  all  our  might  by  the  word 
of  prayer  and  thanksgiving  over  all  that  we 
set  before  ourselves ;  we  have  acknowledged 
that  this  alone  is  an  honour  worthy  of  Him, 
and  not  the  wasting  with  fire  what  has  been 
created  by  Him  for  our  sustenance,  but  the 
use  of  it  for  ourselves  and  for  the  poor ;  and 
the  grateful  offering  to  Him  of  solemn  chanted 
hymns  and  prayers,  for  the  life  that  He  has 
given  us  and  for  all  the  means  of  well-being  .  .  . 
for  the  qualities  of  things  and  the  changes  of 
the  seasons ;  and  the  sending  up  petitions,  by 
reason  of  our  faith  in  Him,  for  our  resurrection 
and  incorruption  "  (i  Af.  13  ;  cf.  Ath.,  Leg.  13). 

On  the  whole,  then,  the  Apologists 
state  all  the  elements  of  this  part  of  a 
Natural  Theology  ;  and,  since  polytheism 
made  no  real  difficulty  for  anyone  who 
thought,  only  two  real  problems  sprang 
from  this,  though  the  earlier  Apologists  do 
not  work  them  out.  The  first  is  :  What, 
then,  is  the  relation  of  this  God  to  the  finite 
universe,  and,  in  particular,  How  did  He 
create  it  ?  and,  How  did  God's  providence 
permit  the  ruin  of  the  Jews  and  of  Jerusa- 
lem, or  again,  persecutions  ?  (2  Ap.  5).  In 
our  own  time  the  latter  problem  has 
clothed  itself  in  the  question  :   Why,  then, 

64 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

has  Christianity  failed  to  save  our  civiliza- 
tion, which,  in  repute  at  least,  was  built 
up  out  of  it  ?  And  it  has  further  crystal- 
lized into  :  How  could  God  allow  the  war, 
or,  more  generally,  allow  evil  ?  The  former 
problem,  How  can  the  Immutable  and 
Eternal  enter  into  any  "  contact  "  with  the 
limited,  transitory,  and  material  has 
tended  to  invert  itself,  and  now  asks,  How 
can  the  limited  mind  have  any  sort  of 
knowledge  of  the  Infinite  ?  Justin  made  it 
clear  that  it  was  the  duty  of  Christian 
philosophy  to  confront  that  sort  of  prob- 
lem, and  at  least  he  resolutely  discards  the 
contemporary  false  solutions,  which  led  on 
the  whole  to  Monism,  theist  or  materialist. 

§   ii 

The  Logos 

w 

But  Christians  believed  more  than  a 
Natural  Theology.  They  had,  after  all, 
to  preach  "  Christ,  and  Him  crucified," 
and  they  could  not  but  set  forth,  both  to 
Jew  and  pagan,  what  they  "  thought  ,5 
of  Him,  and  of  His  relation  to  the  Eternal 

F  65 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

and  Infinite  God.  The  pressure  (both 
internal  and  external)  which  exacted  that 
they  should  do  this  was  stronger,  from  their 
circumstances,  than  what  should  lead  them 
to  dwell  upon  the  theology  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Yet,  since  by  their  Faith  they 
were  taught  the  dogma  of  the  Most  Holy 
Trinity,  they  could  scarcely  but  speak  of 
this  too,  sooner  or  later,  if  they  spoke  at  all 
of  God  and  Christ. 

That,  from  the  outset  of  the  Christian 
revelation,  the  Church  had  always  believed 
in  one  only  God,  is  indisputable.  Yet 
that  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Spirit 
were  alike  God,  and  yet,  in  some  sense, 
each  other  than  the  remaining  Two, 
should  be  recognized  as  no  less  her 
doctrine  historically  original  and  certain. 
Theophilus  (Aut.  II.  1 5)  is  the  first  to  use 
the  word  trias^  though  his  further  phrase- 
ology is  not  clear1 :  even  the  material  of 
the  future  theology  is  perhaps  not  complete 
in  him  ;  but,  on  the  whole,  in  the 
Apologists,  though  their  prime  preoccupa- 

1  The  first  three  days  of  creation  symbolize  the  Trinity  : 
God,  His  Word,  and  His  Wisdom  (cf.  ib.  18).  God  said, 
"  Let  us  make  .  .  ."  to  His  Word  and  His  Wisdom. 

66 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

tion  was  not  the  full  statement  of  even  this 
dogma  as  such,  that  material  is  well  pro- 
vided, though  their  phraseology  is  as  yet 
far  from  adequately  formed,  and  they  may 
state  their  doctrine  in  shapes  which  would 
ultimately  have  been  disallowed.  It  will 
be  seen  that  this  is  due  not  only  to  the 
lack,  so  far,  of  accurate  and  specially 
sanctioned  formulae,  but  to  a  cross-current 
formed  by  the  existence  already  of  certain 
Jewish  or  philosophical  terms,  of  which 
they  either  deliberately  or  instinctively 
made  use. 

The  invocation  of  the  Three  Divine 
Persons  is  of  course  in  use.  The  priest 
praises  and  blesses  the  Father  of  the 
Universe  by  the  name  of  the  Son  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  (i  Ap.  65  ;  again  in  67, 
cf.  61). 

"  God  do  we  reverence  and  adore,  and  the 
Son  who  came  from  beside  Him  and  taught 
us  these  things,  and  the  army  of  the  other 
good  angels  who  follow  and  are  made  like  to 
Him,1  and  the  Spirit  of  Prophecy  (1  Jp.  6). 

1  Lest  this  strange  phrase  should  cause  undue  surprise,  I 
may  say  at  once  that  not  only  the  Greek  use  of  the  word 
aA.A.05  (other),  was  never  necessarily  "  inclusive " — e.g. 
"  Penelope  and  the  other  slaves  "  did  not  mean  that  Penelope 

67 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

"  We  adore  God,  Father  of  all ;  we  will  show 
you  that  we  also  reasonably  honour  Him  who 
became  for  us  the  Teacher  of  these  things, 
and  who  for  that  was  begotten,  Jesus  Christ 
.  .  .  whom  we  learn  to  be  Son  of  the  True 
[ovtcos  :  essentially;  not  just  "  truthfully- 
called  "]  God,  and  whom  we  hold  in  the 
second  place ;  and  the  Prophetic  Spirit  in  the 
third  rank"  (ib.  13). 

After  narrating  the  conception  of  Jesus 
in  the  womb  of  Mary,  and  quoting  Luke 
i.  31-32,  with  Matthew  i.  20-21,  he  says  : 

"  By  the  Spirit  and  the  Power  that  is  from 
God,  we  have  no  right  to  understand  anything 
save  the  Word,  who  is  too  the  First  Begotten 
of  God  "  (1  Ap.  33).  "  By  the  virtue  of  the 
Word  of  God,  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour  took 
flesh  "  (ib.  66). 

was  a  slave  ;  but  "  Penelope  and  the  others,  the  slaves  " — 
but  Justin's  doctrine  of  angels  (below,  p.  90)  makes  it  clear 
that  he  never  thought  the  Son,  who  (he  says)  is  rightly  called 
Angel  or  Messenger,  was  of  the  same  nature  as  the  host  of 
created  spirits :  so  too,  of  course,  does  his  doctrine  of  the 
Son  Himself.  I  may  add  that,  though  I  wish  to  indicate  in 
this  section  Justin's  doctrine  of  the  Word  as  eternal  and  as 
Second  Person  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  rather  than  as  incarnate, 
yet,  since  Justin  often  or  usually  mentions  the  Word  when 
he  is  speaking  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  name  or  phrase,  as  proper 
to  the  Incarnation,  will  occur  naturally  in  the  following 
quotations. 

68 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 
Athenagoras,  however,  is  very  explicit. 

"  We  believe  in  one  only  God,  unbegotten 
and  eternal  and  .  .  .  He  through  His  Logos 
created,  endowed,  and  preserves  the  Universe. 
For  we  acknowledge  too  the  Son  of  God.  .  .  . 
As  for  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  energizes  in  the 
Prophets,  we  say  that  He  is  an  emanation  from 
God,  and  proceeds  from  Him  and  returns  to 
Him  like  a  ray  from  the  sun.  [Not  atheists, 
then,  are  we,  for]  we  assert  a  God  who  is  Father, 
a  God  who  is  Son,  and  a  Holy  Spirit,  and  we 
declare  their  power  in  Unity  and  their  distinc- 
tion in  rank  "  (Leg.  10). 

Indeed,  he  "  theologizes "  on  this  Trinity  in 
the  Unity,  for — "  We  seek  to  know  God  and 
His  Logos,  and  enquire  what  is  the  union  of  the 
Son  with  the  Father,  what  the  communion  of 
the  Father  with  the  Son ;  what  the  Spirit  is ; 
what  is  the  bond  of  union  and  [yet]  the  differ- 
ence between  those  who  are  thus  united — the 
Spirit,  the  Son,  and  the  Father"  (ib.  12; 
in  24  he  repeats  the  metaphor  of  "  emana- 
tion," as  of  light ;    and  cf.  18). 

On  this  question  of  the  interrelation  of 
the  Three  Persons  of  the  Trinity,  of  which 
the  Apologists  say  but  little  explicitly,  and 
even  on  that  of  the  Nature  of  the  Second 
and  of  the  Third,  Justin  in  particular  takes 
up  an  attitude  due  in  part  to  his  personal 

69 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

point  of  view.  .  It  may  be  said  that  he  is  * 
himself  especially  interested  in  the  function 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  prophetic  ;  and  he 
had  been  too  closely  associated  with  suc- 
cessive schools  of  Greek  philosophy  not  to 
express,  instinctively  and  even  by  choice, 
the  nature  and  work  of  the  Second  Person 
in  terms  of  a  Logos  doctrine.  Moreover, 
the  Jews,  especially  those  of  Alexandria 
and  no  doubt  of  Asia,  had  gone  very  far 
along  that  line,  and  he  felt  he  could  usefully 
address  himself  to  both  classes  of  his 
disputants  in  such  terms.  It  seems  to  me 
that  the  attitude  of  the  Apologists  herein 
differs  from  that  of  St.  John  in  the  prologue 
to  his  Gospel.  When  critics  gave  up  saying 
that  St.  John  drew  his  Logos  doctrine  from 
Plato,  they  attempted  to  fasten  it  on  the 
Alexandrian  Jew,  Philo.  I  believe  that 
this  involves,  to  start  with,  a  wrong  view 
of  Philo  himself.  Philo  was  not  original, 
nor  a  true  founder  of  a  school.  Not 
from  him,  as  a  source,  would  anyone 
draw  a  doctrine.  His  writings  were 
probably  impressive  chiefly  owing  to  their 
bulk,  and  perhaps  survived  because  he  was 
an  otherwise  well-known  man.     He  is  very 

70 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

confused,  and  his  allegorizing  of  Scrip- 
ture, which  was  the  only  way  in  which  he 
could  discover  in  it  that  Greek  philosophy 
which  he  wanted  to  accept,  and  there- 
fore to  prove  derived  from  Jewish  sources, 
is  often  quite  fantastic.  Now,  not  only 
could  a  list  of  points  be  made  in  which 
St.  John's  doctrine  of  the  Word  is  at 
variance  with  Philo's,  but  it  seems  to  me 
clear  that  he  is  scarcely  thinking  of  any 
specific  non-Christian  doctrine  as  such  at 
all.  He  is  not  deliberately  correcting 
anything.  He  is  stating  his  own  doctrine, 
with  a  very  minimum  of  condescension  for 
his  readers,  inasmuch  as  he  uses  a  word 
which  is  familiar  to  them.  But  the  Apolo- 
gists, Justin  at  any  rate,  go  further  than 
this  ;  he  sees  so  much  good  in  the  general 
Logos  doctrine  that  he  tries  to  find  how  far 
he  can  use  it  ;  and  in  fact,  in  pursuance  of 
the  form  in  which  he  himself  believed  it,  it 
was  (he  considered)  necessarily  included 
in  the  Christian  revelation,  and  was,  on 
pagan  lips,  an  expression,  departmental, 
no  doubt,  and  even  distorted,  of  the  Truth.1 

1  Justin's  broad-minded  and  sympathetic  attitude  towards 
"  philosophy "  is  not  taken  by  Tatian,  who  indulges  in 

7i 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

I  will  very  briefly  recall  that  the  pagan 
doctrine,  taken  as  a  whole,  declared  that 
the  Ultimate  expressed  itself  in  the  uni- 
verse ;  but  since  the  term  Logos,  very 
inadequately  translated  Word,  can  mean 
the  "  plan  "  or  "  idea  "  of  a  thing  both 
as  held  in  the  mind  and  as  (more  or  less) 
expressed  in  the  concrete,  the  Logos  could 
be  viewed  as  the  "  thought "  in  the 
Ultimate  (I  avoid  the  term  "  God,"  inas- 
much as  for  a  true  Stoic  that  was  meta- 
phorical), and  was  then  called  immanent 
(eV&afoTo?),  or,  as  the  expression  of 
that  "  thought,"  and  was  called  "  out- 
going "  (npo^opLKos)  ;  indeed,  to  push  the 
metaphor  further,  the  Word  could  be 
conceived  in  the  brain,  or  uttered  with  the 
lips :  the  vision  of  the  artist  (in  a  sense, 
himself  ;  anyhow,  within  himself),  or  the 
work  of  art,  "  into  which,"  as  we  say, 
"  he  puts  himself  "  :  "  I  put  my  whole 
soul  into  it."  But  since  the  universe  is 
multiple,  as  well   as    one,  the   Logos  was 

invective,  and  a  caricature  more  violent  than,  say,  Lucian's. 
Athenagoras  and  the  treatise  de  Monarchia  are  on  the  whole 
with  Justin,  and,  strangely  enough,  Minucius  Felix. 
Theophilus  is  severe  ;  Hermias,  derisive. 

7* 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

borne  forth,  not  alone  wholly  in  the  Whole, 
but  fragmentarily  in  each  subordinate  , 
unit  (\6yos  cnrepfjiaTLKos)  ;  yet  this  Seed- 
Word  would  be  as  truly  translated  Gene- 
rative Word  ; .  Germinative,  at  any  rate  : 
for  the  whole  Stoic  system  was  dynamic  ; 
and  the  scattered  syllables,  by  reason  of 
that  very  force  which,  in  them,  made  them 
syllables,  were  growing  into  the  Word,  and 
thus  creating  it. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  detail  those  elements 
which  formed  a  connecting  link  between 
pagan  philosophies  and  the  late  Judaism, 
especially  the  Wisdom-doctrine  and  even 
a  tendency  to  use  the  term  Word  of  God  in 
a  semi-personifying  way  ;  nor  to  discuss 
the  special  significance  in  Alexandrian 
writers  of  the  term  Power  of  God.  I  will 
only  say  that  the  word  First-begotten 
(St.  John  uses  Only-begotten,  but  First- 
begotten  is  sanctioned  by  St.  Paul  and  was 
not  discarded  by  later  and  orthodox  writers), 
tended  to  create  a  certain  confusion.  For 
Philo,  the  world  was  God's  second-be- 
gotten ;  and  the  Word  became  a  midway 
notion,  neither  quite  the  one  nor  yet  the 
other.     Moreover,  there  was  a   tendency 

73 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

to  speak  of  the  Word  as  "  begotten  "  when 
it  was,  so  to  say,  "  pronounced  " — that  is, 
at  and  in  the  creation  of  the  world.  It 
followed  that  a  way  of  speaking  could  be 
imagined,  and  in  fact  existed,  and  later  on 
issued  into  definite  heresies,  which  should 
make  the  Word  subordinate  to  the  Father 
both  in  nature  and  in  time.1 

I  will  next  place,  one  after  the  other,  the 
main  passages  in  which  Justin  speaks  of  the 
Logos.  I  know  what  he  says  of  the  Logos 
and  its  eternal  Life  keeps  overflowing  into 
what  he  says  of  It  as  made  flesh  in  Jesus 
Christ  ;  but  I  want  the  balance  of  atten- 
tion to  be  tilted  towards  its  eternal  and 
essential  nature  rather  than  towards  the 
Incarnation. 

W 

"  The  first  Power,  after  God,  Father  and 
Master  of  all  things,  is  the  Son,  the  Logos, 

1  I  may  perhaps  add  that  Justin's  word  Ao'yos  is  here  and 
there  a  little  ambiguous.  It  seems  to  mean  both  (human) 
reason  and  the  Log^s  at  the  same  time,  though  -primarily  one 
rather  than  the  other.  It  could  do  this  because  all  human 
reason  was  a  participation  in  the  eternal  Logos.  And  it 
would,  I  think,  be  untrue  to  Justin's  complete  thought  to 
suppose  that  the  seed-word  ever  means  purely  human 
reason  as  such  and  in  isolation  :  it  is  always  and  by  nature 
a  form  of  participation  in  God's  plan. 

74 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

become  man  and  made  flesh "  (i  Ap.  32). 
"  [When  He  was  prophetically  announced,  do 
not  believe  that  this  was  said]  by  the  inspired 
men  themselves,  but  by  the  divine  Logos  which 
stirred  them  "  (1  Ap.  36).  "  The  Christ,  we 
have  been  taught  and  have  proclaimed,  is  the 
first-begotten  of  God  and  the  Logos,  in  whom 
the  whole  race  of  men  have  had  part.  And 
those  who  have  lived  with  the  Logos  are 
Christians,  even  if  they  were  believed  to  be 
atheists;  for  instance,  among  the  Greeks, 
Socrates  and  Herakleitos  and  their  like,  and,  in 
the  barbarians,  Abraham,  Ananias,  Azarias, 
Misael,  and  Helias,  and  many  others.  .  .  .  So, 
too,  those  who  have  lived  without  the  Logos 
were  Christless  [there  is  here  a  play  on  words 
to  which  Justin  is  partial  :  dxprjo-ros,  '  worth- 
less/ was  by  now  probably  beginning  to  be 
pronounced  dxpicrros,  a  word  formed  on  the 
analogy  of  atheist,  and  meaning"  non-Christian"] 
and  hostile  to  the  Christ,  and  murderers  of  the 
disciples  of  the  Logos.  But  those  who  have 
lived  with  the  Logos  are  Christians  and  fearless 
and  serene  "  (1  Ap.  46). 

"  The  Prophetic  Spirit  declares  (by  Moses) 
how  and  out  of  what  at  the  beginning  God 
made  the  world.  .  .  .  So  Moses  has  proclaimed 
that,  by  the  Logos  of  God,  the  universe  was 
made  out  of  the  elemental  matter  "  (1  Ap.  59). 

"  Not  only  among  the  Greeks,  by  means  of 
Socrates,   were   these   things   proved,    by   the 

75 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

Logos ;  but  among  the  barbarians  too  by  the 
self-same  Logos  having  taken  [human]  form  and 
become  a  man,  called  Jesus  Christ "  (i  Af.  5). 
".  .  .  What  human  laws  could  not  do,  the 
Logos,  being  divine,  would  have  achieved  [had 
not  evil  spirits  prevented  it] "  (1  Af.  10). 
"  [But  to  trust  to  false  knowledge]  will  bring  you 
to  ill :  the  Logos  declares  it,  whom  we  now  know 
to  exist  a  most  royal  and  righteous  Governor 
after  the  God  who  begat  Him"  (1  Af.  12). 
"  [As  for  evil  spirits,  we  have  renounced  their 
cult]  since  we  have  believed  on  the  Logos,  and 
follow  the  Only  Un- begotten  God  by  means 
of  His  Son  "  (1  Af.  14). 

"  When  [he  argues  ad  kominem,']  we  say  that 
the  Logos,  the  First- begotten  of  God,  was 
born  without  human  fatherhood,  we  admit 
nothing  stranger  than  your  myths  [of  heroes 
with  god  and  woman  for  their  parents] ;  but 
[he  declares,  in  spite  of  all  "  similarities  "  in 
these  myths]  Jesus  Christ  is  alone  the  peculiarly 
(tSiws)  begotten  of  God,  being  from  the 
outset  His  Word  and  First-begotten  and 
Power  ;  and,  by  His  Counsel  having  become 
man,  He  taught  us  all  this  unto  a  change  and 
sublimation  of  the  human  race"  (1  Af.  21). 

This  looks  forward  to  the  phrase  "  God 
became  man  that  we  might  be  made 
gods,"  used  of  the  effect  of  supernatural 
sanctifying  grace. 

7t 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

"  The  Son  is  the  Logos  of  God.  He  is  also  / 
called  Angel  (Messenger)  and  Apostle,  for  He  / 
announces  all  that  must  be  known,  and  He  is  sent 
to  proclaim  all  that  is  announced  "  (i  Ap.  63).  ' 
"  But  [God's]  Son,  who  alone  is  properly  called 
1  Son,'  the  Logos,  both  existing  with  Him  and 
begotten  before  creation,  when  at  the  beginning 
by  means  of  Him  God  created  and  ordered  all 
things,  is  called  Christ,  on  the  grounds  of  His 
being  anointed,  and  because  God  ordered  all 
things  by  means  of  Him.  The  name  itself, 
however,  has  a  secret  significance,  in  the  same 
way  as  the  name  God  is  not  strictly  a  name 
[i.e.  does  not  accurately  express  the  essential 
nature  of  God],  but  is  a  thought,  inborn  in  the 
nature  of  man,  of  a  thing  difficult  in  itself  to 
express.  Jesus  is  a  name  which  means  Man 
and  Saviour  "  (2  Ap.  6). 

"  No  wonder  if  the  devils  harass  those  who 
live  not  according  to  a  mere  fragment  of  the 
[scattered]  Seed-Logos,  but  on  the  basis  of 
the  knowledge  and  contemplation  of  the  whole 
Logos,  which  is  Christ  "  (2  Ap.  8). 

"  The  Father  teaches  us  by  the  Logos  to 
imitate  Him.  The  Right  [true,  genuine] 
Logos  has  come  forward  and  shown  that  not 
all  views  and  doctrines  are  right  "  (2  Ap.  8). 

"  Our  doctrine  surpasses  all  human  doctrine, 
because  the  Christ  who  appeared  for  us  came 
into  being  as  the  whole  Logic  [i.e.  in  Him  all 
things  receive  their  complete  and  reasonable 

77 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

significance  and  value  :  therefore  in  Him 
nothing  was  to  be  lacking ;  '  what  He  did  not 
take  up  into  Himself,  He  did  not  redeem,'  will 
later  on  become  a  sanctioned  formula]  body, 
mind  (logos),  and  soul.  For  all  that  philosophers 
and  lawgivers  ever  uttered  or  invented  that 
was  right  was  all  worked  out  by  them  because  of 
their  partial  discovery  and  contemplation  of 
the  Logos.  But  since  they  did  not  know  all 
that  was  in  the  Logos,  they  often  contradicted 
one  another  "  (2  Af.  9). 

"  '  It  is  not  easy,'  said  Plato,  '  to  find  the 
Father  and  Maker  of  all,  nor,  having  found 
Him,  is  it  simple  to  speak  Him  forth  unto  all 
men.'  But  that  is  what  our  Christ  has  done 
by  His  own  power.  Nobody  believed  Socrates 
enough  to  die  for  what  he  taught.  But 
Christ,  who  was  known  in  part  even  by  Socrates 
— for  He  was  the  Logos,  and  He  is  that  which 
is  in  all,  who  predicts  the  future  through  the 
prophets  and  by  means  of  Himself  became  a 
man  of  like  passions  with  ourselves  and  taught 
these  things — in  Him  have  not  only  phil- 
osophers and  cultured  folk  believed,  but  also 
artisans  and  quite  uneducated  men,  and  have 
despised  opinion,  fear,  and  death  ;  for  He  is 
the  Power  of  the  Ineffable  Father,  and  not  an 
artificial  product  [/caTacr/cevry]  of  the  human 
intellect  "  (2  Ap.  10). 

"  I   boast   of   my   Christianity   not   because 
78 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

Plato's  teaching  is  alien  to  Christ's,  but  because 
it  is  not  in  all  points  similar,  as  neither  is  that 
of  the  others,  Stoics  and  the  rest  of  the  writers. 
For  each  of  them  saw  that  of  the  divine  Logos 
which  was  akin  to  himself,  and  truthfully 
uttered  it.  But  they  who  in  essential  points 
contradicted  one  another,  are  revealed  as  not 
having  had  the  science  which  is  innate  nor  an 
irrefutable  Knowledge.  All  that  they  taught 
of  right  belongs  to  us  Christians ;  for,  after 
God,  we  adore  and  love  the  Logos  of  the 
Un-begotten  and  Ineffable  God,  since  for  our 
sakes  He  became,  too,  man.  .  .  .  For  those 
writers,  owing  to  the  seed  of  the  Logos  that 
was  inset  into  them,  could  all  see  truths,  only 
dimly.  But  it  is  one  thing  [thus]  to  be  granted 
a  seed  and  resemblance  proportioned  to  one's 
faculties,  and  a  very  different  one  [to  be  given] 
the  thing  itself  whereof  the  resemblance  and 
the  consorting  with  It  come  by  grace  of 
Itself"  (2  Ap.  13). 

To  Trypho,  Justin  could  speak  with 
even  greater  ease,  since  not  only  was  he 
equipped,  in  keeping  with  his  character  of 
educated  Jew,  with  Alexandrian  lore,  but 
he  was  at  any  rate  orthodox  about  the 
unity  and  other  attributes  of  God. 

"  Before  all  creation,  God  begot  as  a  principle 
[it  seems  agreed  that  apxrjv  here  is  thus  to  be 

79 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

translated,  not '  in  the  beginning  ']  a  mysterious 
Power  from  Himself — a  Word  [SiW/xts  rts 
XoyiKij]  which  is  also  called  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
*  the  Glory  of  the  Lord  ' ;  and  again,  Son  ;  and 
again,  Wisdom  ;  and  again,  His  Logos  names 
Itself  Chief  of  (His)  Army.  .  .  .  For  It  can 
be  named  by  all  these  names,  because  It  serves 
the  Father's  will  and  is  begotten  by  will  from 
the  Father  "  (Tr.  61  ;   cf.  34,  88,  103). 

"  Is  not  this  rather  what  we  see  happen  in 
ourselves  ?  When  we  pronounce  a  word,  we 
beget  a  word,  yet  not  by  some  amputation,  as 
it  were,  so  as  to  diminish  the  Word  that  is  in 
us.  And  as  when  we  see  a  fire  lit  from  another 
fire,  that  which  gave  it  light  is  not  diminished, 
but  remains  the  same,  while  the  new  fire  which 
is  lit  from  it  shows  itself  no  less  real,  yet  did 
not  diminish  the  fire  from  which  it  was  lit.1 
For  witness  I  shall  have  the  Logos  of  Wisdom, 
which  is  Itself  this  God,  begotten  from  the 
Father  of  all,  Logos,  and  Wisdom,  and  Power 
and  Glory  of  Its  Begetter.  [He  quotes 
Prov.  viii.  21-36.]  As  for  Gen.  1.  26-28, 
when  God  says  '  Let  us  make  man  according  to 
our  own  image,'  we  can  indisputably  see  that 
He  is  speaking  to  One  who  is  numerically  other 
[than  Himself],  and  also,  of  Logos-nature. 

1  Tatian  (Or.  5),  probably  dependent  there  on  Justin,  is 
more  confused  than  he.  But,  to  avoid  the  idea  of  any 
division  in  the  Godhead,  he  describes  the  going  forth  of  the 
Logos,  by  God's  will,  from  His  One  Self,  as  a  "  distribution  " 
or  voluntary  "  dispensation." 

80 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

"  The  Christ  is  Lord,  God,  and  Son  of  God 
by  nature.  [It  was  He  who  appeared  in  the 
Old  Testament  Tkeophanies,  or  apparitions  of 
God,  as  in  the  Burning  Bush.  This  Justin 
often  repeats,  in  the  wake  of  the  Alexandrians.] 
I  know  that  there  are  those  who  say  that  the 
Power  which  came  from  the  side  of  the  Father  of 
the  Universe  to  appear  to  Moses  ...  is  called 
*  Angel '  in  its  coming  to  men,  because  by  it 
divine  things  are  announced  to  mortals  ;  and 
1  Glory '  because  It  sometimes  appears  in 
vague  [axvpyJTu) :  uncircumscribed]  image ; 
that  It  is  called  '  man  '  because  to  appear  It 
clothes  Itself  in  such  human  form  as  the 
Father  wills  ;  and  they  call  it  Logos,  because 
It  conveys  the  communications  of  the  Father 
to  men.  They  say  that  this  Power  cannot  be 
cut  off  or  separated  from  the  Father,  just  as 
they  say  that  the  light  of  the  sun  on  the 
ground  is  not  to  be  [regarded  as]  cut  off  nor 
separated  from  that  of  the  sun  in  the  sky. 
When  he  sets,  the  light  goes  away  with  him. 
Thus  the  Father,  they  say,  when  He  wills,  can 
make  Power  to  project  itself  from  Himself, 
and,  when  He  wills,  reabsorbs  it  into  Himself. 
It  is  thus,  say  they,  that  He  makes  the  angels, 
too.  But  it  has  been  proved  that  angels  exist, 
are  permanent,  and  are  not  resolved  back  into 
what  produced  them.  And  that  this  Power, 
which  the  Prophetic  Logos  calls  also  God,  and 
Angel,  is  not  just  '  nominally '  distinguishable, 

G  8l 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

as  light  from  sun,  but  is  actually  numerically 
other.  ...  I  have  already  said  that  this  Power 
had  been  begotten  by  the  Father  by  His  Power 
and  Will,  and  not  by  way  of  amputation,  as 
though  the  Substance  of  the  Father  had  been 
divided  or  cut,  and  is  no  more  the  same  as 
what  it  was  before  the  cutting"  (Tr.  128). 
"  And  this  shows  that  the  Father  begot  this 
Begotten  absolutely  before  all  created  things, 
and  that  the  Begotten  is  numerically  other 
than  what  begot  it  "  (Tr.  129). 

Justin  therefore  teaches,  in  this  part, 
that  in  the  One  Eternal  God  there  yet  are 
Two,  not  by  division  of  the  substance,  so 
that  this  may  be  separated  from  and  set 
over  against  that,  nor  yet,  merely,  as 
though  the  Second  were  but  a  mode  or 
aspect  of  the  First.  In  reality,  this  in- 
volves the  co-eternity  and  the  co-equality 
of  the  Two,  though  these  words  were  not 
yet  fashioned.  Further,  Justin  affirms 
that  this  Second  may  be  rightly  named,  by 
us,  the  Thought  or  Logos  of  the  First, 
begotten  by  Him  within  Himself,  and 
uttered  forth,  in  varying  measures,  in  the 
Universe,  in  minds  of  men,  and  fully  in 
Jesus  Christ.  In  whatever  proportion, 
then,  a  man  approach  to  Jesus  Christ,  and 

82 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

lives  according  to  Him,  he  has  the  Word  of 
God  within  him.  Any  ambiguity,  or 
elusive  phrase  that  Justin  may  have  used 
has  quite  clearly  to  be  put  down  to  the  fact 
that  the  accurate  human  terminology  in 
which  this  mystery  was  to  be  expressed  was 
not  yet  formed,  though  Justin  was  himself 
materially  assisting  its  formation  ;  and 
again,  because  it  is  extremely  hard  to  make 
use  of  an  analogous  idea,  like  Word,  with- 
out tending  to  reflect  all  that  we  see  in  the 
human  analogue  into  that  Divine  to  which 
it  is  analogous.  Thus,  the  use  of  the 
supremely  sanctioned  term,  Son,  was  al- 
ready giving  rise,  and  later  would  do  so 
even  more  inevitably,  to  logical  errors 
based  upon  what  we  know  of  human 
sonship  ;  as,  that  among  men,  a  son  is 
necessarily  younger  than  his  father  in 
time.  But  nothing  of  this  time-sequence 
can  be  conceived  in  the  Eternal.  There- 
fore, to  a  certain  limited  extent  only  can 
human  analogues  like  Word  or  Son  be  used 
of  the  Second  Person  of  the  Trinity. 
From  the  logical  development  of  the  in- 
applicable part  of  such  analogues  have 
sprung  heresies.    Justin's  thought  avoids 

83 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

them  all  ;  but  his  readers  may  be  conscious 
how  difficult  it  was,  alike  for  his  imagina- 
tion and  his  words,  to  avoid  suggesting 
error  to  himself  and  them.  But  herein 
revelation  gradually  trains  the  intellect, 
subordinates  the  imagination,  and  creates 
the  terminology. 

Nor  let  anyone  suppose  Justin  was 
exhausting  his  brain  over  speculations  of 
no  consequence.  Upon  the  answer  to 
the  question  :  "  Who  is  Jesus  Christ  ?  " 
depends  the  whole  nature  of  civilization, 
twice  over.  Already,  if  He  be  but  God's 
guaranteed  legate,  the  entire  perspective 
of  life  has  been  shifted,  and  death  is  no 
horizon  beyond  which  we  can  see  nothing. 
The  whole  quality  of  our  behaviour,  our 
whole  philosophy  of  individual  and  State 
alike,  is  altered.  But  if  He  be  true  God 
by  nature,  different  yet  again  is  His  work, 
and  different  our  vocation.  Of  that,  we 
speak  in  the  next  chapter. 

But  if  He  be  not  God,  nor  yet  hold  that 
intermediate  position  which  the  tortured 
thought  of  Alexandria  herself,  not  to  dwell 
on  the  pagans,  invented  for  the  Logos,  then 
He  Himself  erred  in  His  teaching,  and 

84 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

His  Church,  whom  He  told  to  teach,  erred 
after  Him,  and  erroneous  is  a  civilization 
built  up,  as  the  European  has  been  in 
the  past,  upon  belief  in  His  Godhead. 
He  was  some  second  Socrates,  whom  we 
venerate,  but  whom  we  may  transcend. 

But  Justin  is  not  bigoted.  Indeed,  in 
time  it  was  to  be  more  clearly  stated  with 
what  kind  of  difference  the  Word  indwelt 
a  Socrates  and  Christ.  But,  none  the  less, 
the  vision  Justin  offers  us  is  truthful  and 
superb.  St.  Paul  had  said  that  "  all 
creation  groans  and  travails  together  to- 
wards the  revelation  of  the  sons  of  God." 
God's  is  the  Light  which  illumines  even 
the  "  natural  "  man  :  Justin,  usually  so 
sober,  so  unimaginative,  exclaims  that, 
in  so  far  as  those  philosophers  saw  truly, 
they  were  Christians  even  when  men 
called  them  atheists  ;  he  concentrates 
rather  on  that  to  which,  under  God's 
vocation,  their  minds  were  straining,  than 
upon  that  which  alone  they  yet  possessed  : 
invent,  earn,  merit,  grasp  that  super- 
natural destiny,  they  could  not  ;  yet  to  it 
God  was  calling,  in  many  ways,  the  world. 
Justin,  then,  looks  at  history,  not  scorning 

8; 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

it  ;  but  at  all  times  and  in  all  places  he 
saw  what  made  for  gratitude,  hope,  and 
love.  I  think  we,  at  any  rate,  are  justified 
in  asserting  that  what  Justin  meant  to  say, 
is  this :  All  knowledge  is  participation  in 
Truth.  The  full  Truth  is  the  Logos. 
Therefore,  in  Him,  human  reason,  even 
in  so  far  as  it  has  "  natural  "  knowledge, 
participates.  The  pagan  philosophy, 
therefore,  participated  in  the  Logos,  even 
though  it  did  not  outstrip  the  limits, 
precisely,  of  natural  philosophy.  That 
amount  of  truth  it  could  and  did  have,  is, 
therefore,  a  possession  of — so  to  put  it — 
fragments,  scattered  seeds  of  a  Christ. 
But  in  Christ  the  whole  Logos  is  concen- 
trated, is  exhaustively  present  ;  therefore, 
he  who  possesses  Christ  possesses  the  whole 
Logos  and  in  a  different  way  from  that  in 
which  philosophy  possessed  even  the  frag- 
ments— inklings,  we  should  be  more 
inclined  to  use  for  metaphor — of  Him. 
Therefore,  Justin  does  not  say  that  the 
pagans  possessed  supernatural  revelation, 
even  in  a  fragmentary  way,  but  a  natural, 
fragmentary  knowledge  ;  while  the  Chris- 
tian possesses  a  total,  unique,  and  super- 

86 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

natural  revelation  which  it  is  his  business 
to  appropriate  more  deeply  rather  than 
more  widely.  If  St.  Justin  errs,  it  is  most 
certainly  not  by  using  Paganism  to  throw 
light  on,  or  expand  his  dogma,  to  "  libe- 
ralize "  the  Faith,  but,  in  glad  possession 
of  the  Faith,  possessing  the  Logos,  he 
may  reflect  almost  too  much  of  its  light 
back  upon  philosophy  ;  yet  he  is  right  in 
seeing  Nature  not  shut  up  within  itself 
but  in  such  approximation  to  or  tendency 
towards  super-nature  and  revelation  as  it 
was  capable  of. 


§   iii 

The  Work  of  Christ 

w 

To  understand  properly  the  work  Justin 
teaches  to  have  been  accomplished  when 
the  Logos  took  flesh,  we  have  to  go  back  to 
the  beginning  of  history. 

Of  the  act  by  which  God  created  the 
world  he  says  but  little.  In  one  place  he 
leaves  himself  open  to  the  suggestion  that 

87 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

God  "  made  "  the  world  out  of  a  sub- 
stratum of  primeval  chaotic  "  matter/' 
which  other  schools  would  have  said  was  as 
eternal  as  God  was  (cf.  Ath.  Leg.  10)  ; 
but  Justin  leaves  no  doubt  that  God  is  the 
"  Father  "  of  the  whole  universe  ;  and 
had  he  definitely  asked  himself  the 
question,  or  been  asked,  whether  matter 
was  eternal,  he  would  no  doubt  have 
answered,  No.1 

But  the  first  point  of  importance  is  that, 
in  the  world,  spirits  and  men  were  alike 
created  free  ;  and  freedom  involves  re- 
sponsibility. This  power  of  choice  Adam 
misused.2 

1  Even  Philo  was  really  quite  clear  about  this :  de  Somn. 
577,  despite  de  Vict.  Off.,  857.  Justin  says  the  Leges  wa3 
begotten  before  the  world  was  created  ;  he  never  hints  at 
a  third  eternal  existence,  i.e.  matter. 

2  In  view  of  their  scope,  the  Apologists  could  not  be 
expected  to  write  treatises  on  psychology  as  such,  though 
Justin  composed  a  work  On  the  Soul,  now  lost.  A  word  will 
be  said  below  on  his  assertion  of  its  immortality.  Theophilus 
and  Hermias  attack  pagan  philosophy  for  not  admitting  its 
spirituality ;  but  the  Apologists'  main  wish  was  to  go 
straight  to  its  freedom  in  view  of  their  further  doctrine  upon 
6in.  Tatian  has  an  extraordinary  system.  Man's  inferior 
soul,  he  suggests,  is  composite,  visible,  not  immortal,  even 
now  not  much  better  than  the  beasts',  except  because  of  the 
inhabitation  in  it  of  God's  Spirit,  and  does  in  fact  dissolve 
at  the  body's  death  until,  at  the  reconstitution  of  all  things, 

88 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

66  Let  no  one  say  that  events  happen  according 
to  the  inevitable  law  of  fate.  We  have  learnt 
from  the  prophets,  and  announce  as  true,  the 
doctrine  of  punishments  and  penalties  and 
rewards  according  to  the  worth  of  the  works 
of  each.  Were  this  not  so,  and  were  all  to 
happen  according  to  fate,  responsibility  would 
utterly  cease  to  be.  If  it  be  fate  that  settles 
that  A  is  to  be  good,  B  bad ;  A  ceases  to  be 
praiseworthy,  and  B  blameworthy  :  if  man  by 
his  free-will  has  no  power  of  choosing  the  good 
and  shunning  the  bad  he  is  guiltless  in  regard 
of  whatever  he  does.  ...  In  our  eyes,  the 
true  -  inevitable  Destiny '  is,  the  just  reward 
for  those  who  have  done  right,  and,  similarly, 
the  worthy  recompense  of  those  who  have 
done  wrong.  For  God  has  not  made  man  like 
the  other  things — trees,  animals — unable  to 
do  anything  by  choice.  [He  then  accumulates 
a  number  of  Old  Testament  examples  showing 
that  God  praises  and  approves,  and,  therefore, 

the  Spirit  reconstitutes  men  too.  It  has  been  suggested 
(cf.  M.  Puech  :  Recherches  sur  le  discours  aux  Grecs  de  Tatien, 
1903,  p.  68)  that  Tatian  was  trying  to  express  philosophically 
the  results  of  the  supernatural  grace-life  in  the  soul.  When 
Justin  seems  to  lean  towards  analogous  ideas  (Tr.  5 ,  6 ;  cf . 
Theoph.  Aut.  II.  18,  19,  24,  27,  e.g.  "man  was  made  not 
mortal  absolutely,  nor  immortal  wholly,  but  capable  of  either 
mortality  or  immortality  "),  he  is  asking  why  souls  are,  as  a 
matter  of  Christian  truth,  "  immortal  "  rather  than  whether 
they  are  so  by  essence.  This  is  particularly  clear  in 
Theophilus.  See  Tatian,  Or.  7-1 1,  12,  13,  16,  who  is,  herein, 
strongly  Stoicized. 

89 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

that  man  is  free.] "  (i  Ap.  43 ;  cf.  28 ;  and 
Athen.  Leg.  10 ;   also  Justin,  2  Ap.  7.) 

"  God  decreed  to  make  angels  and  men  self- 
governing  with  regard  to  right  action,  with 
reason  to  know  who  made  them  .  .  .  and  with 
the  obligation  of  being  judged  by  Him  if  they 
act  contrary  to  the  right  Logos.  It  is  we 
ourselves,  angels  and  men,  who  through  ourselves 
shall  be  condemned  "  (Tr.  141). 

"  God  inserts  in  every  race  of  men  what  is 
always  and  universally  right,  that  is,  all 
righteousness.1  All  races  are  aware  that  adultery, 
fornication,  murder,  and  all  the  rest  are  wrong, 
save  such  as  are  swept  about  by  an  evil  spirit, 
or,  being  corrupted  by  education  and  bad  habits 
and  evil  laws,  have  lost  natural  notions,  or 
rather,  quench  them,  or  have  them  inhibited  " 
(Tr.  93).  "  God  willed  that  men  and  angels 
should  exist  with  free  will  and  be  autonomous, 
so  as  to  do  all  that  He  had  given  them  the 
power  to  do  "  (Tr.  88). 

This  free-will,  therefore,  Adam  mis- 
used, and  with  sin,  death,  pain,  and  above 

1  Cf.  2  Ap.  8  :  "  The  Stoics  have  composed  an  orderly 
ethic  ;  so  too  some  of  the  poets  here  and  there,  owing  to  the 
Seed  of  the  Word  innate  in  all  races  of  men  ;  hence,  we  know 
that  they  have  been  hunted  and  put  to  death  ;  Herakleitos,  as 
I  said  before  [1  Ap.  46  ?],and  Musonius,  in  our  own  times,  and 
others  whom  we  know.  It  is  the  devils,  as  we  have  indicated, 
that  ever  excite  this  hatred  amongst  all  who  in  any  way 
try  to  live  according  to  the  Logos,  and  to  shun  evil." 

90 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

all  the  power  of  evil  spirits  entered  the 
world.1 

Christ,  he  argues,  was  under  no  neces- 
sity to  be  born  and  die,  yet  did  so  for  the 
sake  of  men,  who  since  Adam  "  had  fallen 
under  sin  and  the  error  of  the  Serpent, 
and  [then]  by  the  personal  fault  of  each, 
committed  sin  "  (2>.  88).  He  speaks  of 
the  "  disobedience  of  man,  that  is,  of 
Adam  and  Eve,  and  the  fall  of  him  who  is 
called  *  Serpent/  who  fell  by  a  great  fall 
for  having  set  Eve  astray  "  (7>.  1 24).  God 
shall  destroy  "  the  Serpent  and  the  angels 
and  men  who  have  been  made  like  to  him  " 
(Tr.  100). 

In  a  word  :  the  Hellenizing  Christian 
looked  forward  rather  than  back :  what 
we  are  to  be,  and  in  fact  are,  by  Christ's 

1  He  does  not  exactly  say  that  the  sin  of  the  angels  was 
the  tempting  of  Adam  and  Eve  ;  in  fact,  he  clearly  enough 
sees  the  "  serpent "  to  have  been  antecedently  wicked,  else 
he  would  not  have  "  tempted  "  to  wrong  at  all.  But  he 
seems  to  feel  that  Satan's  success  over  Adam  somehow 
plunged  him  deeper  into  hell,  though  for  the  time  being  it 
liberated  his  and  his  angels'  evil  influence  in  the  world. 

Tatian  says  Adam  fell  by  "  making  a  god  of  him  who  had 
rebelled  against  the  law  of  God,"  and  men  followed  him. 
Therefore  the  Word  withdrew  Himself,  and  man  became 
mortal.  So  too  Cohort,  ad  Graec.  21.  Theophilus  takes 
Genesis  quite  literally  (Jut.  II.  24). 

91 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

aid  preoccupied  him  rather  than  what, 
by  Adam's  fall,  we  had  become.  It  will 
be  in  a  more  Latinized  world  that  the 
implications  of  Original  Sin  will  be  fully- 
worked  out  and  more  heavily  insisted  on. 
Justin's  book  is  suffused  by  the  doctrine 
of  the  supernatural,  and  in  particular  by 
that  of  grace,  rather  than  explicit  about 
it  ;  so  neither  does  he  here  dwell  on  the 
natureof  Original  Sin — that  is, the  depriva- 
tion of  supernatural  sanctifying  grace — so 
much  as  upon  the  fact  and  some  of  the  con- 
sequences of  it.  But  he  is  so  emphatic 
upon  the  active  role,  ever  since,  of  evil 
spirits  that  it  is  undoubtedly  an  integral 
and  even  dominating  part  of  his  thought.1 

"  God  gave  the  care  of  men  and  of  all  that  is 
under  the  heavens  to  angels,  whom  He  set  over 
them.  But  the  angels,  transgressing  this  order, 
were  degraded  \r)TTH] Orjaav]  by  intercourse  with 
women,  and  produced  offspring,  '  demons,' 
as  they  are  called.' 

1  Probably  the  Apologists,  more  or  less  consciously,  were 
resisting  both  the  pagan  (cf.  Plutarch)  and  the  Gnostic 
systems  of  demonology. 

2  This  is  also  in  Athen.,  Leg.  23-24;  and  becomes  a 
popular  idea  in  Christian  literature.  Tatian's  theory  of  the 
fall  of  the  angels  depends  in  part  on  his  views  on  their 

92 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF   THE  APOLOGISTS 

"  As  time  went  on  they  enslaved  the  rest  of 
the  human  race,  some  by  means  of  magic 
writings,  others  by  the  panics  and  pains  they 
made  them  suffer,  others  by  teaching  them  to 
offer  sacrifices  and  incense  and  libations  to 
them,  of  which  they  had  come  to  feel  the  need 
since  they  became  enslaved  to  passions  and 
lusts.  They  sowed  among  men  murders,  wars, 
lust,  licence,  and  every  evil.  Whence  poets  and 
mythologists,  not  knowing  that  it  was  the 
angels,  and  the  demons  whom  they  begat,  who 
worked  all  this  [evil]  upon  men  and  women  and 
cities  and  peoples,  attributed  it  to  God  and  to 
the  sons  he  begat,  and  to  his  so-called  brothers 
and  their  race  similarly,  Poseidon  and  Pluto ; 
for  they  addressed  each  of  them  by  the  name 
which  each  angel  had  bestowed  upon  himself 
and  on  his  offspring  "  (2  Af.  5). 

"  In  old  days  evil  spirits,  appearing  in 
visible  form,  violated  women,  corrupted  chil- 
dren, and  struck  panics  into  men.  Men  in 
their  terror,  could  not  appreciate  these  facts 
according  to  reason,  but  were  swept  away  in 
their  panic,  and,  not  realizing  that  they  were 

quasi-material  nature  (Or.  7,  12,  etc.).  He  describes  them 
as  having,  in  their  pride,  "  made  an  assault "  upon  God. 
He  seems  to  argue  that  they  preferred  to  be,  as  it  were, 
kings  over  matter  instead  of  serving  the  spiritual  God. 
They  thereupon  lost  the  sense  of  order  and  what  spirit 
really  was,  and,  in  a  sort  of  nemesis-infatuation,  tried  to 
place  themselves  at  the  head  of  all  things.  Whence  their 
punishment. 

93 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

evil  spirits,  called  them  gods,  and  addressed 
them  by  the  names  which  the  spirits  were 
severally  bestowing  on  themselves.  [Whence 
the  murder  of  Socrates,  who  was  enlightening 
men  upon  this  subject.]  "(l  Ap.  5). 

In  fact,  it  is  they  precisely  who,  arousing 
evil  passions  against  the  wise  and  just 
(1  Ap.  10),  are  the  inner  cause  of  perse- 
cutions. 

"  All  that  the  devils  can  do  is  to  drive  those 
who  do  not  live  by  right  reason,  but  according 
to  their  passions  have  turned  aside  in  evil 
habits,  and  are  slaves  to  opinion,  to  hate  us 
and  slay  us  "  (1  Af.  57). 

"  Nor  is  it  astonishing  that  the  devils  stir  up 
a  special  hatred  against  those  who  are  in  posses- 
sion of  no  mere  fragment  of  the  Seed- Word, 
but  of  the  knowledge  and  contemplation  of 
the  whole,  namely,  Christ  "  (2  Ap.  8;  cf.  11,  13); 
u  though  even  Socrates  tried  to  turn  out  of  his 
polity  the  evil  spirits  and  those  who  had  done 
what  the  poets  told,  and  indeed  Homer  himself 
and  the  other  poets  too  "  (2  Ap.  10). 

To  them,  too,  are  due  heresies. 

"  [Simon  the  Samaritan  (Simon  Magus)  was 
raised  up  by  devils  to  call  himself  God,  and] 
nearly  all  the  Samaritans  and  a  few  persons 
in  other  nations  regard  him  as  the  First  God 
and  worship   him.     His   companion,   the   ex- 

94 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

prostitute  Helen,  is  regarded  as  his  first 
1  conception.'  [His  disciple  Menander],  with 
the  assistance  of  demons,  utterly  deceived 
many  by  magic  crafts  .  .  .  and  a  certain 
Marcion  of  Pontus,  who  is  still  teaching 
to-day,  with  the  help  of  demons  has  caused 
many  to  blaspheme  "  (i  A-p.  25,  26). 

"  [Therefore],  beware  lest  the  devils,  whom 
we  take  the  initiative  in  denouncing,  deceive 
you  and  turn  you  away  either  altogether  from 
reading  us,  or  from  understanding  what  we 
say.  For  they  struggle  to  have  you  for  servants 
and  slaves,  and  through  magic  tricks  seek  to 
master  all  who  have  no  care  for  their  salvation  " 
(1  Ap.  14).  "  [In  fact]  the  only  effort  and  aim  of 
the  *  demons  '  is  to  lead  men  away  from  the  God 
who  made  them  and  His  First-born,  Christ  : 
and  those  who  cannot  help  themselves  up 
from  the  earth  they  have  nailed,  and  still  nail, 
to  things  of  earth  made  by  the  hands  of  men  ; 
and  those  who  strain  up  to  the  contemplation 
of  God  they  stealthily  undermine,  if  they  do 
not  maintain  a  wise  mind  and  a  pure  life 
superior  to  passion ;  and  they  cast  them  into 
impiety"  (1  Af.  58). 

1  On  the  role  of  demons  in  imitating  prophecy  see  p.  149. 
Justin  has  some  digressions  which  do  not  really  affect  his 
substantial  doctrine  of  the  role  of  evil  spirits,  but  are 
speculative.  The  other  Apologists  follow  the  same  lines  of 
thought :  demons  are  responsible  for  idolatry  (cf.  Athen. 
Leg.  26  ;  Theoph.,  Jut.  I.  10).  Tatian  deduces  the  practice 
of  astrology  from  this  (Or.  7-12). 

95 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

We  may  re-emphasize,  in  connection 
with  Justin's  whole  doctrine  of  heresy,  his 
repeated  declaration  that  the  Church  is  a 
teaching  institution,  from  whose  declared 
doctrine  no  Christian  can  separate  himself, 
though,  where  opinion  still  is  free,  he  can 
follow  what  seems  to  him  the  more  prob- 
able view. 

Theophilus  {Aut.  II.  33)  boldly  asserts  : 

"  All  the  rest  were  wrong  :  the  Christians 
alone  possess  truth." 

Justin  will  not  allow  his  readers  to 
imagine  for  a  moment  that  his  references 
to  philosophy,  not  to  mention  myth,  imply 
that  he  is  commending  Christian  doctrine 
because  it  approximates  to  what  they  hold 
as  sound  or  valuable. 

"  [We  do  not  claim  your  acceptance  of  our 
doctrine]  because  it  is  like  yours,  but  because 
it  is  true  "  (1  Ap.  23). 

"We  repudiate,"  says  Tatian  {Or.  32) 
"  all  that  reposes  upon  human  opinions. " 
Else,  he  argues,  we  should  in  fact  be  a 
school  of  philosophy.     But  only  the  rich 

96 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

and  leisured  can  cultivate  philosophy.  With 
us,  all,  rich  and  poor,  old  women  and  young 
children,  have  full  right  to  all  our  teaching: 
there  is  no  divergence  of  view  among  us. 
When  we  read  Justin's  condemnation  of 
Marcionites,  Gnostics,  Docetists  (i  Ap. 
26,  56,  58,  etc.),  we  see  quite  clearly  that 
he  does  not  regard  them  as  taking  a 
different  yet  legitimate  view  of  the 
same  thing,  but  as  downright  outside  the 
Church,  instigated  by  demons,  Antichrists 
in  short.  Similarly  Theophilus  (Aut.  II. 
14)  envisages  the  Christian  Communities 
as  islands  with  safe  harbours  for  refuge 
in  the  midst  of  the  sin-tossed  sea  of  the 
world.  "  Doctrines  of  Error  " — that  is, 
heresies — are,  on  the  other  hand,  rocky  and 
barren  islands  on  to  which  pirates  drive 
their  ships  in  order  to  wreck  their  captive 
crews.  (Yet  Theophilus  has  a  beautiful 
doctrine  of  mercy :  were  not  the  sea 
continually  "  refreshed,"  he  argues,  by 
the  inflowing  streams,  it  would  long  ago 
have  been  dried  up,  so  salt  is  it :  so  through 
the  bitter  world  have  from  the  outset 
stolen  the  waters  of  the  Law  and  of  the 
Prophets,  saving  it  from  utter  desiccation.) 
h  97 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTTR 

"  There  are  men  who  call  themselves  Chris- 
tians, and  acknowledge  Jesus  the  Crucified  as 
Christ  and  Lord,  but  who  do  not  teach  the 
doctrine,  but  that  of  spirits  of  error.  .  .  .  We 
call  each  sect  or  opinion  by  the  name  of  those 
who  began  them.  One  in  one  way,  one  in 
another,  they  teach  blasphemy  concerning  the 
Creator  of  the  Universe,  and  on  the  Christ 
whose  coming  He  prophesied.  .  .  .  We  refuse 
communion  with  all  of  them  alike  "  (Tr.  35). 
"  Many  (as  Jesus  prophesied)  have  falsified  His 
doctrine,  and  preached  in  His  name  things 
unclean,  blasphemous,  and  impious ;  that  which 
the  foul  spirit — that  is,  the  devil — put  into 
their  minds  they  both  have  taught  and  teach  " 
(Tr.  80). 

In  short,  the  man  who  is  willing  to  call 
the  philosophers  Christians  before  Christ, 
in  so  far  as  they  taught  truth,  is  clear 
that  denial  or  distortion  of  the  Taught 
Traditional  Faith  is  anti-Christianity.1 

Justin  does  not  develop  as  a  dominant 
motif  St.  Paul's  or  St.  John's  declarations 

1  He  has  an  interesting  little  comment  in  1  Jp.  28  :  The 
pagans  class  heretics  with  orthodox  as  "  Christians  "  ;  yet 
heretics,  precisely,  are  those  who  are  not  persecuted  for  their 
doctrines  :  the  orthodox  are.  Whether  heretics  be  guilty 
of  the  other  crimes  imputed  to  Christians,  Justin  professes 
himself  ignorant. 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

of  the  supernatural  union  existing  be- 
tween Christ  and  His  Church  ;  but  the 
Apologists  allude  sufficiently  to  this  to 
make  it  clear  that  the  source  of  the  unity 
of  doctrine  and  its  truth,  no  less  than  of 
the  sanctity,  which  distinguish  the  true 
Church,  proceed  from  that  union,  and 
are  not  the  product  of  the  will  or  intelli- 
gence, only,  of  the  Faithful,  and  are  not 
elements  which  could  be  lost,  as  though 
Christ,  unfaithful  to  His  spouse,  could 
withdraw  Himself  and  them. 

"  Jacob,"  says  Justin,  "  was  not  suffered 
to  espouse  two  sisters  at  the  same  time." 
He  develops  the  typical  value  of  Jacob's 
service  first  for  Lia,  then  for  Rachel.  The 
upshot  is,  that,  as  the  alliance  between  God 
and  the  Jewish  race  was  unique,  so  now  is 
that  between  Christ  and  His  Church, 
typified  by  Rachel  as  the  Synagogue  was 
by  Lia  (TV.  134). 

And  in  7V.  63  he  emphatically  says  that 
the  Church  came  jorth  from  the  Logos, 
and  is,  therefore,  called  His  daughter  ; 
hence  the  Christians  have  "  one  soul,  one 
association,  one  Church." 

I   repeat,   if  necessary,  that  the  whole 

99 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

structure  and  scheme  of  Justin's  Chris- 
tianity is  Catholic,  throughout  ;  the  indi- 
vidualist and  fideist  theories  of  later  ages 
do  not  so  much  as  dawn. 

(b) 
His  faith,  and  the  exigencies  of  con- 
troversy, necessitated  the  turning  of  Jus- 
tin's eyes  towards  the  Jews.  He  would 
have  been  right  to  do  so  in  any  case,  for  the 
Jewish  "  fact  "  or  phenomenon  is  unique 
in  the  history  of  religions.  It  is  so  for 
many  reasons,  but  not  least  because  the 
Hebrew  nation  is  the  only  one  in  which 
that  "  upward  evolution  "  towards  the 
ever  purer  and  more  spiritual  is  found, 
which  none  the  less  modern  historians 
have  been  fond  of  assuming,  as  bound  to 
have  happened,  in  all  religious  history 
alike.  Justin  does  not,  of  course,  use  that 
argument,  but  he  supplies  material  which 
forms  the  stuff  of  a  very  remarkable  argu- 
ment indeed.  For,  we  saw,  he  displays 
to  us,  first,  the  contemporary  Christian 
fact,  the  Christian  folk,  living  and  above 
all  dying  all  the  world  over  for  their  faith 
— a  unique  phenomenon.     Then  he  dis- 


IOO 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

plays,  as  he  sees  it,  the  Jewish  fact  ;  the 
total  result  of  the  Jewish  history  ;  and, 
while  he  sees  how  it  looks  forward  to 
something  verified  in  the  Christian  "  eco- 
nomy," yet  he  sees  equally  clearly,  and 
clearly  shows,  how  it  contained  no- 
thing to  cause  that  Christian  economy  and 
fact.  Between  the  two,  therefore,  some 
transcendent  cause  must  have  sprung  into 
existence,  to  account  for  the  amazing 
result.  What  was  it  ?  When  the  Chris- 
tians, with  one  voice,  answered  "  Christ," 
it  becomes  impossible  for  us  to  say  they 
were  wrong  ;  and  we  have  forthwith  to 
confess  that,  whatever  more  may  be  learnt 
and  said  about  Him,  a  unique  and  trans- 
cendent personality  has,  in  good  logic, 
in  sheer  good  scientific  history,  to  be 
ascribed  to  Him. 

On  the  whole,  the  Apologists'  attitude 
towards  the  Jews  was  antagonistic.  Not 
only  was  the  Jewish  attitude  to  them 
hostile  from  the  beginning,  but  the  Jews 
were  rooted  in  it,  while,  says  Justin, 
"  more  numerous  and  truer  Christians  are 
they  who  come  from  the  heathen  than 
those  from  the  Jews  and  the  Samaritans  " 

IOI 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTTR 

(i  Ap.  53).  Not  that  Christianity  offered 
no  problem  to  the  Jews.  In  fact,  it  offered 
a  double  problem.  First,  the  person  of 
Jesus  was  so  utterly  different  from  what 
they  had  expected  as  a  Messiah,  even  when 
their  ideal  had  become  spiritualized.  At 
least  his  triumph  was  to  be  obvious  to  the 
world  and  to  involve  that  of  the  chosen 
race.  The  Jews  not  only  could  say,  as 
through  Trypho — 

"  The  Scriptures  constrain  us  to  expect  [a 
Messiah]  great  and  glorious,  who  receives  the 
eternal  kingdom  from  the  Ancient  of  Days  as 
Son  of  Man ;  but  this  man  of  yours,  the 
so-called  Christ — was  dishonoured  and  dis- 
graced, so  much  so  that  he  fell  under  the 
worst  curse  that  is  in  God's  law — he  was 
crucified  "  (Tr.  32). 

but  they  carried  the  war  into  Christian 
territory,  and  attacked  the  historical  evi- 
dence itself  for  the  life  of  Jesus.  But 
since  it  is  Origen  who  deals  with  this  sort 
of  argument  (much  used  by  Celsus)  and 
Justin  does  not  deal  with  it  directly — 
though,  by  offering  the  events  of  Our 
Lord's  life  as  notorious  and  undisputed  by 
102 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

his  adversaries,  he  refuted  it  indirectly — 
we  may  leave  this  till  Origen  is  spoken  of. 
But  quite  as  difficult  to  a  sincere  Jew 
— and  Justin,  in  Trypho,  portrays  a 
very  honourable,  open-minded,  and  even 
attractive  adversary — was  the  suggestion 
that  the  law,  which  all  alike  confessed 
was  imposed  by  God,  need  not  be  observed 
by  Christians.  "  Cannot/'  asked  the  Jews, 
at  their  most  tolerant,  "  cannot  a  man  be- 
lieve in  Christ  and  keep  the  law  as  far  as 
possible  ?  "  (7V.  46,  47).  But  in  their 
hearts  they  demanded  more,  and  Trypho 
explicitly  says  :  "  If  you  will  listen  to  me 
(for  already  I  reckon  you  as  a  friend), first 
of  all  be  circumcised  ...  do  all  that  is 
written  in  the  law  ;  and  then  perhaps  God 
will  have  mercy  on  you  "  (TV.  9).  For, 
as  for  the  popular  charges  against  the 
Christians,  "  they  are  incredible.  They 
are  too  far  removed  from  human  nature  " 
(TV.  10).  In  fact,  the  Christian  ethic  is 
exorbitant  ;  no  one  could  observe  the 
commands — for  he  has  read  them — which 
Christ  laid  down.  It  is  a  pity,  Trypho 
frankly  avers,  that  Justin  had  not  kept  to 
philosophizing  with   Plato  or  one  of  the 

103 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

ancients,  if  he  were  merely  to  fall  victim 
to  lies  and  worthless  men.1 

There  was  one  point  on  which  Justin  had 
no  need  to  argue  with  his  adversary,  but 
to  affirm  his  faith — profound  as  was  the 
mystery  which  that  faith  included.  This 
was  when  Trypho,  horror-struck  in  his 
monotheism,  thought  that  the  Christians 
were  introducing  a  "  second  god  along- 
side of  the  Creator  of  the  Universe " 
(7>.  50,  54).  Justin  most  solemnly  could 
affirm  that  there  was  but  One  God,  and 
that  Him,  and  Him  only,  both  Jew  and 

1  On  the  whole,  in  the  Dialogue,  both  sides  keep  their 
temper  admirably.  Here  and  there,  Trypho's  strong  feeling 
breaks  out.  "  Sir,"  he  cries  (c.  38),  "  it  would  have  been 
better  for  us  to  listen  to  our  authorities.  They  decided  we 
should  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  of  you.  We  had  done 
better  not  to  embark  on  this  conversation.  You  are  simply 
speaking  blasphemies  when  you  say  that  this  crucified  man 
was  with  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  talked  with  them  in  the 
pillar  of  cloud.  .  .  ."  "  I  sympathize,"  says  Justin,  "  and 
I  will  work  away  and  go  on  struggling  to  make  you  understand 
our  paradoxes.  You  will  have  worse  paradoxes  than  these 
to  hear."  But  the  Jews  shut  themselves  up,  henceforward, 
within  themselves,  and  broke  up  all  the  roads  by  which 
ambassadors  might  have  moved  to  and  fro  between  Hebrew 
and  Christian  camps.  Justin  was  far  more  tolerant :  con- 
verted Jews,  provided  they  did  not  seek  to  force  others  to 
follow  their  example,  might,  he  judged,  follow  the  old 
ceremonies  if  they  liked  and  could. 

104 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

Christian  worshipped  (7V.  n).  Jealous 
for  true  monotheism,  Trypho  bids  him 
beware  lest  he  be  misled  by  the  Old 
Testament  references  to  "  other  gods" 
(which,  in  fact,  have  led  modern  critics 
to  call  the  Jews  "  Henotheists  " — worship- 
pers of  one  God  to  the  exclusion  of 
others,  whose  existence  they  did  not  deny). 
Justin  is  aware  of  that  pitfall,  and  insists 
that  the  Christians,  for  all  their  Logos 
doctrine,  are  not  ditheists  ;  the  aXXo?  Oeos 
the  "  second  god  "  is  not  to  alarm  Trypho 
(see  Tr.  55). 

Of  his  answer  to  the  difficulty  about  the 
law,  I  will  say  but  little.  First,  because 
the  question  was  really  all  but  settled  before 
his  time,  and  it  cannot  be  said  that  herein 
he  added  very  much  to  the  current  of 
thought,  though  treatises  Against  the  Jews 
will  continue  to  be  written  for  a  long  time, 
and  will  include  this  topic,  until  they  cede 
to  "  Apologies  "  against  Mohammedans. 
But  more  than  this :  it  may  be  felt  that  the 
Apologists  not  only  declared  that  all  the 
spiritual  value  of  the  old  law  and  Covenant 
survived  in  the  New,  and  that  this  was  the 
true   fulfilment  of  that,   but  very   nearly 

105 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

declare  that  the  old  law  and  its  ritual 
were  bad  in  themselves  and  were  entirely- 
abrogated.1 

Justin  is  so  convinced  of  the  inferiority 
of  the  Jewish  worship  that  he  describes  its 
materialism  as  a  condescension,  on  God's 
part,  to  the  deplorable  temperament, 
or  degraded  state,  of  that  race.  Thus, 
circumcision  was  not  needed  for  all,  but 
only  for  them  (7V.  19). 

"  Many  have  felt  such  doctrines  [as  yours] 
to  be  unreasonable  and  unworthy  of  God,  not 
having  received  the  favour  of  understanding 
that  your  people  was  in  a  sick  state,  in  an  illness 
of  the  soul,  and  was  summoned  to  conversion 
and  penitence  of  spirit  "  (Jr.  30). 

1  Justin,  Tr.  II  and  12.  The  Epistle  to  Diognetus  heaps 
ridicule  on  the  Jews.  They  are  right  to  separate  from  pagans 
in  that  they  do  not  worship  many  gods  nor  images ;  but  it 
is  folly,  not  piety,  to  offer  the  same  sacrifices  as  pagans  do, 
to  a  spiritual  God,  Master  of  all  things.  To  distinguish 
between  clean  and  unclean  and  the  like  is  positively  sinful, 
or  anyhow  a  childish  panic  ;  circumcision  is  mere  braggadocio  ; 
Judaism  is  but  fuss  and  silliness  (Diog.  3-4).  Aristides 
(Ap.  14),  says  Jewish  worship  goes  to  angels  rather  than  to 
God.  Once  in  a  way,  Justin  can  be  very  rationalist.  In 
Tr.  20  he  says,  "  because  we  [now]  don't  eat  certain  herbs 
you  say  that  this  exception  was  imposed  long  ago  by  God 
on  Noe."  He  equivalently  calls  that  story  an  "  aetiological 
myth." 

106 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

Yet,  even  so,  the  law  led  men  Christ- 
wards,  but  might  be  abandoned — must,  in 
fact,  be  abandoned — when  He  came.1 

Moreover,  of  Him  it  was  both  symbolic 
and  prophetic.  Here  is  where  he  embarks 
upon  a  topic  of  undying  value  and  interest. 

Justin  could  use  "  prophecy  "  both  in 
his  controversy  with  pagans  and  in  that 
with  the  Jews.  With  the  former  he  would 
claim  that  the  Hebrew  literature  was  older 
than  the  Greek,  and  in  fact  its  source  : 
this  might  have  been  difficult  for  his 
adversary  to  disprove  ;  anyhow,  Greece 
was  believed  to  have  been  long  since  in 
close  touch  with  Egypt,  if  not  with  Pales- 
tine, and  in  or  from  Egypt  her  knowledge 
of  Moses  could  be  thought  to  have  begun. 
Justin  would  then  say,  Hebrew  prophecy 
is  full  of  predictions,  which  were  all, 
exactly,  and  only,  realized  in  the  life  of 
Jesus  Christ.  This  portent,  he  felt,  must 
needs  carry  conviction.  With  a  Jew,  he 
could  have  started  from  the  orthodox  belief 

1  Justin,  however,  leaves  it  an  open  question,  whether  an 
older  school  of  Christians  can  be  allowed  to  continue  observ- 
ing as  much  of  the  law  as  they  could,  within  Christianity. 
He  does  not  approve  of  them,  but  will  not  absolutely 
condemn  them. 

107 


ST.  JUSTIN   THE  MARTYR 

that  the  Old  Testament  was  inspired  ;  he 
would  also  have  found  a  sufficiency  of  edu- 
cated Jews  who  would  admit  that  much  in 
the  Old  Testament  had  to  be  interpreted 
"  symbolically  "  or  allegorically  ;  and,  in 
the  absence  of  any  authority  to  say  how 
much  might  be,  or  in  what  sense,  it  re- 
mained open  to  individuals  to  say  that 
almost  any  of  it  could  be,  and  to  do  so  in 
their  sense.  The  whole  way  of  feeling,  in 
Alexandria,  about  the  Old  Testament 
led  to  a  quite  fantastic  allegorization  ; 
Christians  of  the  Alexandrian  school  were 
themselves  strongly  affected  by  it  ;  and, 
as  for  Justin,  you  may  say  at  least  that 
he  makes  a  far  more  sparing  use  of  the 
symbolical  and  allegorizing  method  than 
did  Jews  like  Philo. 

In  reading  St.  Justin  we  ought,  there- 
fore, to  remember  that  there  was  not  yet 
a  strong  and  universal  tradition  as  to  which 
passages  in  the  Old  Testament  referred  to 
the  Messiah,  directly  at  any  rate,  and 
in  what  way  ;  in  fact,  it  has  been  shown 
that  those  about  which  the  Christian 
Fathers  came  to  display  any  sort  of 
"  consensus  "  are,  if  important,  very  few  ; 

108 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

moreover,  though  Justin  could  distinguish 
in  his  own  mind  between  the  literal  and 
the  symbolical  senses  of  Scripture,  he  had 
as  yet  no  principle  to  help  him  to  decide 
which  sense  should  in  Scripture  be  dis- 
cerned, and  when.  In  fact,  he  tended  to 
act  as  though  the  symbolical  sense  should 
be  discerned  whenever  possible.  And 
perhaps  he  did  not  at  all  distinguish  a 
third  "  sense  "  of  Scripture  from  the  other 
two,  namely,  the  "  applied  "  sense  :  that 
in  which  a  Scripture  may  legitimately 
be  applied  to  some  idea  or  doctrine  which 
it  does  not  really  contain  at  all.1 

Two  tendencies,  therefore,  not  fully 
examined  yet,  are  visible  in  St.  Justin  : 
to  suppose  that  most,  if  not  all,  the  Old 
Testament  is  in  some  way  prophetic  of 
Christ  ;  and  that  all  he  knew,  historically, 
of  Christ  was  in  some  way  prophesied  in 
the  Old  Testament. 

Justin  says  that,  after  his  conversation 
with  the  mysterious  old  man,  his  heart 
burned  within  him  with  love  for  the 
prophets. 

1  Thus  much  of  the  Canticle  and  of  the  Wisdom  literature 
can  be,  and  is,  legitimately  applied  to  Our  Lady. 

109 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

"  There  were  born  certain  men  among  the 
Jews  to  be  prophets  of  God,  by  whom  the 
Prophetic  Spirit  announced  what  was  to  be 
before  it  happened  "  (i  Af.  31). 

"  These  prophecies  occurred  '  5,000,  3,000, 
2,000,  1,000  or  800  '  years  ago.  Sometimes  it 
is  God  who  is  represented  as  speaking  directly, 
sometimes  the  Messiah,  or  the  prophet  in 
person,  or  the  people  who  answer  "  (1  Ap*  36)  ; 
sometimes  the  tense  is  future,  sometimes  past, 
God  foretelling  "  what  is  absolutely  decreed  as 
to  happen,  as  though  it  had  already  happened  " 
(ib.  42). 

Yet  prediction  does  not  imply  fatalism 
(ib.  44,  and  see  supra,  p.  89)  ;  and,  besides 
this,  the  Prophetic  Spirit  teaches  and 
interprets.  Not  all  is  sheer  prediction.1 
And,  from  the  fulfilment  already  of  so 
much,  we  may  confidently  expect  further 
fulfilment  in  the  future  (52). 

I  have,  therefore,  earlier  alluded  to 
Justin's  use  of  Hebrew  prophecy  as,  first 
of  all,  a  portent,  worthy  of  attracting  the 
attention  of  pagans :  here,  as  part  of  the 
world's  history,  indicating  the  Christ- 
ward  "  economy  "  of  God  ;  later,  it  can 

1  Theophilus  (Aut.  II.  34)  insists  on  the  moral  doctrine  of 
the  prophets  (cf.  Tatian,  Or.  12,  etc.). 

no 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

be  regarded  as  interpreted  by  Christ's 
life  itself,  which  throws  light  backward 
upon  what  was  yet  obscure. 

(<) 

But  the  whole  of  history,  and  that  of  the 
Jews  in  particular,  looks  forward  to  the 
Coming  and  the  Work  of  Christ.  For  the 
Apologists,  history  is  Christocentric.  The 
government  of  the  world,  its  "  economy  " 
(oiKovonia)  is  one  of  Salvation  through 
Christ.  The  Epistle  to  Diognetus  boldly 
confronts  the  problem  :  Why  did  Christ 
come  so  late  in  history  ?  He  practically 
answers,  To  enable  man  to  take  stock  of 
himself,  human  life  and  its  limitations,  and 
thereby  of  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  whom  in 
some  sort  we  would  not  have  valued  until 
we  had  learnt  how  much  we  needed  Him 
(8-9).  There  is  herein  not  only  the  sub- 
stance of  a  whole  philosophy  of  history,  but 
a  whole  theology  of  man's  greatness  of 
destiny,  and  natural  inadequacy  to  achieve 
it  ;  of  God's  patience  and  mercy,  and  of 
the  instrumentality  of  Christ  in  imparting 
to  us  supernatural  life  and  grace.     Yet  a 


in 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

paradox  should  here  be  frankly  stated. 
Leaving  the  fragmentary  Apologies  aside, 
we  look  in  vain  in  those  of  Athenagoras, 
Tatian,  Theophilus,  and  Minucius  Felix 
for  the  Name  of  Jesus.  Even  the  r61e  of 
the  Logos  is,  here  and  there,  but  indicated. 
The  cause  of  this,  is  that  the  Apologists 
were  definitely  not  making  an  exhaustive 
statement  of  Christian  doctrine,  but 
defending  themselves,  attacking  their 
enemies,  or  at  most  stating  as  much  of 
Christianity  as  could  be  expected  to  appeal 
to  their  hearers,  and  could  be  put  in  lan- 
guage familiar  to  them.  But  we  may 
frankly  regret  that  they  did  not  more 
boldly  trust  to  the  sheer  power  of  Christ 
and  of  His  Name,  and  fully  declare  the 
Faith  which  no  one  doubts  was  theirs. 
However,  they  yielded  to  the  fear  lest 
pagan  feet  should  trample  their  precious 
pearl. 

I  will  first  recall  some  of  Justin's  plain 
statements  of  Christian  doctrine  with 
regard  to  the  Person  and  work  of  Christ, 
and  then  show  how  he  uses  the  Old  Testa- 
ment to  prove  that  all  this  was  announced 
beforehand. 

112 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

"  We  read,  announced  beforehand  in  the 
books  of  the  prophets,  that  our  Jesus  Christ 
must  come,  born  of  a  virgin,  growing  up  to 
manhood,  healing  every  sickness  and  infirmity, 
raising  dead  men  to  life,  hated  and  unknown, 
crucified,  dead,  and  raised  again,  and  going  up 
into  the  heavens ;  called,  and  indeed  being, 
■  Son  of  God  '  ;  and  that  He  will  send  men  to 
every  human  race  to  announce  these  things, 
and  that  from  the  heathen  especially  men  shall 
believe  in  Him"  (i  Ap.  31). 

"  Our  Jesus  Christ  was  crucified,  died,  rose 
again,  and  ascended  to  heaven,  where  He  is 
reigning  "  (i  Ap.  42). 

"  The  Christ  was  born,  a  man,  of  a  virgin, 
and  was  called  Jesus ;  He  was  crucified,  died, 
rose  again  and  ascended  into  heaven"  (1  Ap.  46). 

"  Christians  declare  their  religion  to  have  for 
origin  Jesus  the  Messiah,  and  He  is  the  Son  of 
the  Most  High  God.  We  are  told  that  God 
came  down  from  heaven,  that  He  took  and 
clothed  Himself  with  flesh  in  the  womb  of  a 
Jewish  maiden,  and  that  the  Son  of  God  dwelt 
in  a  daughter  of  men  "  {A p.  2). 

He  proceeds  to  relate  the  life  of  Christ 
and  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles. 

Justin  adds  that  He  was  born  "  150 
years  ago  under  Cyrenius,  and  taught  what 
we  say  He  taught  under  Pontius  Pilate  " 

1  113 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

(i  Ap.  23  ;  cf.  46,  58,  II.  8,  10).  The 
birth  at  Bethlehem,  the  Magi,  the  Flight 
into  Egypt,  the  Massacre  of  the  Inno- 
cents, are  mentioned  by  him.  Christ  grew 
up  into  manhood  in  the  ordinary  way,  He 
worked  miracles  and  raised  the  dead  (7>. 
84;  cf.  88).  He  chose  and  sent  forth 
Apostles,  and  three  of  these  He  had 
present  with  Him  in  His  Agony  on  the 
Mount  of  Olives  before  He  was  arrested. 
The  memoirs  of  the  Apostles  tell  of  His 
sweat  like  drops  of  blood.  He  feared  and 
He  suffered  truly  (7V.  103).  Both  Herod 
and  Pilate  were  in  league  against  Him  ; 
incidents  of  His  Passion  (the  parting  of  the 
garments)  are  related,  and  much  more, 
which  we  need  not  recount  in  detail. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that 
Justin  maintains  the  Humanity  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  full  historic  and  normal  sense. 
In  as  full  a  sense  he  asserts  His  Divinity. 

"  There  are  some  of  our  folks  who  recognize 
Him  for  the  Christ,  yet  declare  that  He  is  but 
man  born  of  men.  I  do  not  agree  with  them, 
and  I  would  not  agree — no,  not  though  the 
majority  of  Christians,  who  teach  the  same 
doctrine  [in  other  points]  as  I  do,  were  to  say 
114 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

the  same.  For  Christ  did  not  tell  us  to 
believe  in  human  reasonings,  but  in  the  oracles 
of    the    Prophets    and    His    own    preaching " 

(*>.  43)- 

"  Our  Master,  the  Son  and  Angel  (Messenger) 

of  God,  Father  and  Lord  of  the  world,  Jesus 

Christ,    from    whom    we    have    our    name    of 

Christians  .  .  .  He  who  was  crucified  in  the  days 

of  Tiberius  Caesar.     We  have  been  taught  that 

He  is  the  Son  of  the  True  God,  and  we  rank 

Him  in  the  second  place"  (i  Ap.  12,  13,  14). 

"  Jesus  Christ  alone  is  truly  the  Son  of  God, 

His   Logos,   His   First-born,   His   Power.  .   .  . 

He  is  the  Logos  in  which  all  men  participate" 

(1  Ap.  23,  46).     "  The  First  Power  after  God, 

Father  and  Master  of  the  world,   is  His  Son, 

the  Logos,  who  was  made  flesh  and  became 

man"  (1  Ap.  32). 

He  alludes  again  and  again  to  the 
Virgin  Birth  (especially  1  Ap.  33),  not 
proving  the  Divinity  of  Christ  thereby, 
but,  if  not  saying  that  because  He  was 
divine,  He  had  to  be  virgin-born  ;  at 
least  suggesting  that  because  God  was 
properly  His  Father,  He  had  no  need  of 
human  fatherhood  and  in  fact  had  none. 
Moreover,  Jesus  Christ,  true  Son  of  Mary 
and  true  Son  of  God,  came  into  the  world 
for  a  definite  purpose.  We  have  already 
115 


ST.  JUSTIN   THE  MARTYR 

quoted  texts  illustrating  the  function  of  the 
Logos.  To  all,  He  had,  as  the  Seed- 
Word,  given  a  partial  light  and  teaching  : 
as  Jesus  Christ,  He  taught  the  full  doctrine, 
being  Himself  the  complete  Logos,  or 
Wisdom  or  Truth  of  God. 

"  He  taught  us  this  doctrine  in  view  of  the 
renewal  and  restoration  of  the  human  race  " 
(i  Af.  23). 

We  have  also  quoted  enough  to  show  that, 
in  His  own  Person  and  in  those  of  His 
Christians,  He  destroys  the  evil  spirits 
and  their  work  and  conquers  the  Serpent, 
thereby  reversing  his  work  of  destruction. 

But  this  implies  not  only,  so  to  say,  an 
incidental  conquest  of  evil  influences, 
opening  up  a  free  and  happy  future,  but 
an  entirely  new,  or  renewed,  "  economy  " 
of  the  world.  Somewhere  Justin  must 
have  used  the  tremendous  phrase,  "  The 
only  Son  of  God  came  to  us,  recapitulating 
His  creation  in  Himself,"  for  St.  Irenaeus 
{Adversus  Haereses,  IV.  vi.  2)  quotes  it 
unless  possibly  he  is  interpreting  the 
thought  of  Justin  when  he  says  (2  Ap.  13) 
that  the  Logos  became  man  for  us  that  by 

116 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

sharing  in  our  deficiencies  He  might 
thereby  heal  them. 

Anyhow,  when  he  writes  that  "  the  Son 
of  God  was  made  man  by  means  of  the 
Virgin,  that  the  disobedience  which  comes 
from  the  Serpent  might  be  destroyed  in 
the  same  way  that  it  began  "  (Tr.  ioo) 
his  thought  is  perfectly  clear :  Christ 
knits  the  human  race  to  Himself  as  to  a 
new  head  ;  a  new  organic  unity  is  by  Him 
inaugurated,  and  we  who  fell  in  Adam 
are  by  Him  put  upright  again  ;  original 
sin  is  annulled  ;    immortality  is  restored. 

Nor  is  there  any  doubt  that  Justin 
attaches  this  redemptive  and  restorative 
work  of  Christ  peculiarly  to  His  death 
upon  the  Cross. 

"  He  chose  to  be  born  and  to  be  crucified 
...  for  the  human  race  which,  since  Adam, 
had  fallen  into  death  and  the  deception  of  the 
Serpent.  .  .  .  You  shall  see,  in  that  self-same 
place,  Jerusalem,  Him  whom  you  despised  and 
who  offered  Himself  in  sacrifice  for  all  sinners 
who  will  repent  "  (Tr.  40). 

He  uses  all  his  "  saving  "  and  ransoming 
words    in    connection    precisely    with  the 
blood  of  Jesus.     The  whole  chapter  liii.  of 
"7 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

Isaias  is  in  his  eyes  an  accurate  prophecy 
of  Christ's  vicarious  oblation  ;  it  is  His 
death-sacrifice  which  does  what  that  of 
beasts  could  never  do.  The  whole  race 
is  under  a  curse — even  the  Jews,  who  could 
not  fulfil  even  that  law  which  placed  them 
so  much  above  the  pagans. 

"  Now  the  Father  of  all  things  willed  that  His 
Christ,  Himself,  in  view  of  men  of  every  race, 
should  receive  the  malediction  laid  on  all, 
knowing  that  He  would  raise  Him  up  after  His 
crucifixion  and  His  death.  .  .  .  His  Father 
and  Himself  determined  these  sufferings  in 
view  of  the  human  race.  .  .  .  And  let  none 
of  you  say :  '  If  the  Father  willed  these 
sufferings  that  His  wounds  should  become  the 
healing  of  the  human  race,  we  are  guilty  of  no 
sin.'  If,  when  you  say  that,  you  repent  your 
sins,  if  you  acknowledge  Him  as  Christ  and 
observe  His  commandments,  then,  as  I  have 
already  said,  your  sins  will  be  forgiven  you  " 
(Tr.  94,  95). * 

1  Cf.  Ep.  to  Diog.  9 :  "  God  Himself  took  our  sins  upon 
Himself.  He  of  Himself  gave  His  own  Son  as  ransom  for 
us,  holy  for  unholy,  innocent  for  guilty,  righteous  for 
unrighteous,  incorruptible  for  corruptible,  immortal  for 
mortal.  .  .  .  Precious  exchange  !  .  .  .  that  the  wickedness 
of  the  many  should  vanish  in  the  righteousness  of  one,  and 
that  the  righteousness  of  one  should  make  righteous  the 
many  who  have  sinned  !  "  He  continues  with  the  true 
rhetoric  of  ecstasy. 

Ii8 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

In  the  Apology  Justin  first  adduces  the 
prophecy  of  Gen.  xlix.  10,  that  a  King 
should  not  be  lacking  to  Judah  till  the 
Messiah  should  come.  Rulers  succeeded 
one  another  ;  Jesus  Christ  was  born  and 
died  ;  Rome  destroyed  the  Jewish  polity  ; 
the  Jews  are  ruler-less  ;  and  the  prophecy 
is  fulfilled.  Isaiah  xi.  i  foretells  the 
Messiah,  and  vii.  14  His  Virgin  Birth 
("  Behold,  a  Virgin  shall  conceive/'  etc.). 
Micah  v.  2  predicts  Bethlehem  as  His  natal 
town  ;  Zachariah  ix.  9  the  Entry  of 
Christ  into  Jerusalem  riding  upon  an  ass.  A 
great  variety  of  texts  are  adduced  as  predic- 
tive of  the  Passion.  He  quotes,  of  course, 
the  famous  texts  from  Ps.  xxii.  (16-18, 
"they  pierced  My  hands  and  My  feet,,> 
etc.,  and  "  they  wagged  the  head  .  .  ."), 
and  from  Isaiah  (chaps.  1.  6-8,  lii.,  liii.,  and 
lxiii.  2),  but  also  the  whole  of  Psalms  i.  and 
ii.  are  quoted  as  predictive  of  the  coalition  of 
Pilate,  Herod,  and  the  Jews  against  Christ  ; 
Ps.  iii.  5,  "  I  laid  Me  down  and  slept,  and 
I  rose  up  again,  because  the  Lord  had  care 
of  Me,"  prophesies  His  death  and 
resurrection  ;  Isa.  lxv.  2,  "  I  have  stretched 
out  My  hands  all  the  day  long  to  a 
119 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTTR 

rebellious  people,' '  foretells  the  outstretch- 
ing of  His  arms  upon  the  Cross  ;  and 
Isa.  ix.  6,  "  the  government  is  upon  His 
shoulders,"  is  interpreted  of  His  Cross, 
in  which  is  His  supreme  strength.  Besides 
this,  prophecies  are  quoted  from  the  Psalms 
and  elsewhere  signifying  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion and  ascension  ;  the  sending  of  the 
Apostles,  their  world-wide  preaching,  the 
conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  the  Second  Com- 
ing and  the  Christian  eschatology  (Ezek. 
xxxvii.  7-8,  Isa.  xlv.  23,  lxvi.  24,  etc.). 

After  the  reading  the  Dialogue  with 
Trypho  I  imagine  most  people  would  find 
they  were  left  with  two  main  impressions. 
First,  as  I  said  above,  that  of  the  amazing 
detail  in  which  Justin  knows  the  Old 
Testament  ;  second,  in  how  far-fetched  a 
way  he  applies  it. 

He  has  to  be  judged  by  his  own  prin- 
ciples, not  ours  ;  and  his  were  identical 
with  those    of   his   adversary.1     Of  these 

1  Indeed,  he  is  extraordinarily  fair,  besides  being  well 
informed.  Thus,  he  knows  the  orthodox  post-Christian 
Jewish  way  of  interpreting  Behold  the  "  Virgin  "  shall  con- 
ceive^ and  is  aware  that  Trypho's  contemporaries  would 
probably  apply  Ps.  109  to  Hezekiah.  He  is  satisfied  that  he 
refutes  these  interpretations,  but  he  knows  them  and  states 
them  fairly  (Tr.  33). 


20 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

the  first  was  that  the  Old  Testament  was 
predictive.  In  a  sense,  he  could  maintain 
that  he  alone  fully  knew  and  could  show 
it  was,  for  he  could  point  to  the  realization, 
in  Christ,  of  the  predictions.  However, 
he  and  the  Jews  were  right,  amply,  in 
asserting  that  it  claimed  so  to  be.  It  must 
be  allowed  that  the  Prophets  emphatically 
do  not  offer  their  statements  as  expressions 
of  aspirations,  hopes,  surmises,  or  even  as 
spiritual  intuitions  merely,  conditioned  by 
moral  convictions  such  as  the  necessary 
triumph  of  justice  in  the  long  run.  They 
assert  that  this  and  that  will  happen^ 
because  of  certain  promises  of  God.  In  this 
the  mass  of  the  Old  Testament  documents 
differs  altogether  from  any  other  known 
block  of  national  sacred  literature.  The 
danger  was,  to  regard  as  predictive  what 
was  not  really  so. 

Justin's  next  principle,  I  recall,  which 
also  would  have  been  that  of  almost  all  the 
Jews  who  thought  and  wrote,  and  was 
certainly  allowed  by  Trypho,  was,  that 
the  literal  story  very  often,  and  probably 
usually,  had  a  spiritual  sense,  which  was  its 
truest  sense,  and  gave  its  value  to  the  letter; 

121 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

and  that  it  was  a  student's  duty  to  expect  its 
existence  and  to  try  to  discover  it. 

Besides  these  two  principles,  Justin  had 
the  personal  conviction  that  he  had  been 
granted  a  special  grace  which  made  him 
successful  in  his  efforts  to  interpret  Scrip- 
ture aright*  He  may  have  gathered  this 
from  the  conviction  with  which  his  inter- 
pretations inspired  him,  or,  from  that 
which  he  saw  they  produced  in  others. 
(TV.  58.) 

Now,  apart  from  the  detailed  discussion 
of  certain  oracles  which  have  come  to  be 
recognized  in  the  Church  as  predictions  of 
definite  events — a  discussion  which  would 
obviously  be  out  of  place  in  this  book — I 
would  say  that  Justin's  influence  and  work 
made  for  good  in  three  definite  ways  at 
least.  One  of  these,  in  its  direct  incidence, 
affects  a  modern  theory.  That  is,  that 
the  Gospel  "  life  "  of  Christ  was  practi- 
cally constructed  out  of  prophecies  :  that 
because  so  and  so  was  prophesied  of  the 
Messiah,  it  was  assumed  that  it  must  have 
happened  in  the  life  of  Christ,  and  was 
then  related  of  Him.  Now,  the  more  far- 
fetched Justin's  application  of  prophecy 

122 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF   THE  APOLOGISTS 

may  seem,  and  the  more  fantastic  it  may 
appear  to  us  to  connect  a  passage  like 
the  cutting  of  the  Stone  from  the  Mountain 
(Daniel  ii.  34)  with  the  cave-birth  at 
Bethlehem,  or  to  regard  the  bells  on  the 
high  priest's  tunic  as  typical  of  the 
Apostles,  the  more  obviously  impossible 
does  it  become  to  say  that  the  prophetic 
sentences  gave  birth  to  the  Gospel  inci- 
dents. It  is  certain  that  the  known  exis- 
tence of  these  made  possible  a  suitable 
interpretation  or  application  of  those,  and 
not  vice  versa.  Justin  says  again  and 
again  (and  the  Gospels  themselves  hint 
the  like)  that  much  of  the  Old  Testament 
prophecy  remained  unintelligible  until 
the  life  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ  enabled 
men  to  diagnose  its  complete  meaning 
and  value.  The  historicity  of  the  Gospel 
story  emerges  all  the  stronger  from  a 
method  like  Justin's,  seeing  that  it  forced 
towards  itself  a  quantity  of  literature 
which,  but  for  it,  would  have  appeared, 
to  one  ignorant  of  the  historical  Christ, 
quite  disparate. 

The  next  point  of  value  is  that  Justin 
simply  will  not  allow  us  (despite  his  theory 

123 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTTR 

of  the  abrogation  of  the  law)  to  isolate 
the  Christian  revelation  from  the  Jewish. 
Our  whole  view  of  what  he  calls  the  cosmic 
"  economy/'  God's  active  plan  in  regard 
to  human  history,  suffers  if  we  isolate  the 
former.  Indescribably  enriched  is  our 
whole  view  of  God's  dealing  with  man- 
kind, if  we  school  ourselves  to  examine 
it  in  the  world  at  large,  and  in  the  Jewish 
history  in  particular.  Such  has  always 
been  the  Catholic  attitude,  and  such  was 
the  method  of  the  Fathers  even  when 
most  antagonistic  to  the  Jews  as  a  race 
apostate  from   God's  guidance. 

Finally,  it  is  of  vast  value  to  accustom 
ourselves  to  viewing  the  world  as  essen- 
tially Christocentric.  In  the  past,  Christus 
cogttabatur^  as  Tertullian  will  say.  Christ 
can  be  regarded  as  "  recapitulating  "  the 
race  not  morally  alone,  nor  mystically, 
but  historically.  It  has  been  asked  how 
Justin  co-ordinates  his  doctrine  of  the 
Seed-Word  with  that  of  the  quite  special 
revelation  of  the  Jews,  borrowed^  as  he  will 
have  it,  by  pagans.  His  answer  always 
is  :  there  is  only  one  Logos  in  and  for  the 
wrorld  ;   He  was  revealed  especially  in  and 

124 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

to  the  Jews,  and  fully  in  Christ.  The 
same  Logos,  acting,  germinating  seed-wise 
in  the  souls  of  all  men  created,  im- 
pelled the  unprivileged  parts  of  the  race  to 
fasten  on  what  the  Jewish  race  proclaimed, 
precisely  in  so  far  as  they  felt  it  akin 
to  the  spiritual  element  in  them.  After 
that,  human  weakness  or  sin,  and  evil 
spirits,  joined  in  distorting  the  good 
material  thus  taken  over.  But  it  remains 
that,  just  as  there  was  one  special  covenant, 
so  God  seriously  wills  that  all  men  should 
be  saved,  and  upon  all,  grace  is  at  work. 
But  all  grace  is  given  through  Jesus  Christ. 
Therefore,  for  all  alike,  He  is  source  of 
salvation,  if  but  human  wills  consent  to 
co-operate  sufficiently '  with  His  ever- 
sufficient  initiative.  Christocentricity  is 
the  pivot  of  Justin's  thought. 

A  necessity  forced  upon  Justin  by  the 
conditions  of  his  time  was  a  theory 
of  pagan  religious  myths.  He  took  up  two 
attitudes  towards  them.  In  one,  he  argued 
purely  ad  hominem.  He  said  :  You  ought 
not  to  accuse  us  of  telling  incredible  stories 
about  Christ,  such  as  His  Virgin  Birth, 
because  you  tell  quite  as  strange  things 

125 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

about  your  own  heroes  and  gods  ;  more- 
over, said  he,  you  place  these  miracu- 
lous episodes  in  atrocious  settings,  and, 
even  in  the  actual  episode,  immorality  of 
hideous  and  unnatural  sorts  is  often  in- 
woven (i  Ap.  25,  27).  Whereas  whatso- 
ever we  relate  as  historical,  yet  miraculous, 
in  connection  with  Christ,  operates  in 
function,  so  to  say,  of  a  transcendent 
moral  doctrine  and  life.  Even,  Justin  can 
retort  upon  the  pagans :  "  If  we  did  what 
you  say  we  do,  we  should  boast  of  it,  and 
recommend  our  religion  to  you  by  it, 
for  we  should  be  imitating  your  sacrifices 
and  your  gods  "  (2  Ap.  1 2).  He  points  out, 
too,  \\0vjimm0v2\ity Jlows from  pagan  myth, 
as  well  as  from  pagan  practice  :  prostitu- 
tion is  the  invariable  result  of  the  ex- 
position of  children,  boys  and  girls  alike 
(1  Ap.  27).  Somewhat  similar  attacks 
are  found  in  Epistle  to  Diognetus,  Aristides 
{Ap.  3-14),  Tatian  {Or.  8-10),  and 
Athenagoras  in  great  detail  {Leg.  14-21).1 

1  Another  ad  hominem  is :  "  You  admit  the  inspired  oracles 
of  Dodona  and  Delphi — '  possessed  men  ' — necromancy, 
oneiromancy,  etc.  You  should  not,  therefore,  quarrel  with 
our  doctrine  of  souls  and  spirits  "  (2  Ap.  18).    "  Similarly,  you 

126 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

"  When  we  say  that  the  Logos — that  is,  the 
First-born  of  God,  Jesus  Christ,  our  Master — 
was  engendered  without  human  intercourse, 
that  He  was  crucified,  died,  rose  again,  and 
ascended  into  heaven,  we  admit  nothing  more 
strange  than  the  stories  you  too  tell  about 
sons  of  Zeus.  .  .  .  Hermes  is  his  interpreter- 
Logos  and  universal  teacher  ;  Asklepios,  who 
also  became  a  physician,  after  being  struck  by 
lightning ;  Dionysus  having  been  torn  in 
pieces ;  Herakles,  after  throwing  himself  into 
the  fire  to  escape  from  his  labours ;  the  Dioscuri, 
sons  of  Leda,  Perseus,  son  of  Danae,  and 
Bellerophon  on  his  horse  Pegasus,  [all]  went  up 
to  heaven.  .  .  .  What  of  your  Emperors  ? 
Directly  they  die  you  claim  ever  to  put  them 
with  the  immortals,  and  you  produce  someone 
to  swear  that  he  has  seen  the  cremated  Caesar 
ascending  up  to  heaven !  And  the  sort  of 
behaviour  that  is  put  down  to  each  of  these 
so-called  sons  of  Zeus,  you  know  it,  and  I  need 
not  tell  it ;  I  will  merely  say  that  those  stories 
were  written  for  the  corruption  and  perversion 
of  youth  :  for  everyone  thinks  it  fine  to  imitate 
the  gods  "  (i  Ap.  21). 

"  If  we  say  that  He  was  born  from  God,  in 
a  special  way,  contrary  to  the  law  of  normal 
birth,  and  Son  and  Logos  of  God,  well,  this  is 

admit  Sibylline  books  (not  to  mention  the  Stoics),  which 
show  the  world  ending  in  a  conflagration.  Do  not,  therefore, 
flout  our  eschatology  "  (;b.  22). 

127 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

told  too  by  those  of  you  who  call  Hermes  the 
Logos  and  Messenger  of  God.  If  anyone 
should  object  that  He  was  crucified,  that  too 
is  held  in  common  with  the  sons,  as  you  call 
them,  of  Zeus,  whom  I  enumerated  above,  and 
who  also  suffered.  [If  you  consider  the  kinds 
of  sufferings  each  underwent,  you  will  see  He 
was  not  inferior  :  if  you  consider  the  acts,  He 
was  superior.]  He  was,  we  say,  virgin-born. 
That  is  a  point  in  common  with  your  Perseus. 
[And,  with  His  miracles,  compare  those  of 
Asklepios]  "  (i  A  p.  22). 

How  did  such  myths,  however,  arise  ? 
Sometimes,  as  stated  above,  by  philoso- 
pliers'   misinterpretation  of  Scripture. 

"  Plato  in  the  Timaeus  is  applying  the 
principles  of  natural  philosophy  to  [the  idea 
of]  the  Son  of  God,  and  says  :  '  He  has  im- 
pressed Him  X-wise  in  the  universe  '  (c^utcro' 
amov :  the  symbol  is  x).  He  took  the  idea 
from  Moses  and  expressed  it  similarly.  For 
.  .  .  Moses  by  the  inspiration  and  at  the 
impetus  of  God  took  bronze  and  made  a  cross 
and  put  it  up  on  the  holy  tent  and  said  to  the 
people,  '  If  you  look  upon  this  symbol  and 
believe,  you  shall  be  saved  therein.'  They 
did  this,  and,  he  writes,  the  serpents  perished 
and  the  people,  he  relates,  in  this  way  escaped 
death.     Plato  read  this,  but  did  not  under- 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

stand  it  accurately,  and  did  not  see  that  this 
symbol  was  a  cross,  but  thought  it  was  an  x? 
and  he  said  that  the  secondary  Power,  after 
God,  was  infused  x_wise  m  the  world.  And 
if  he  names  also  the  third  power,  that  is  because 
he  had  read  in  Moses  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
was  borne  upon  the  waters  "  (i  Ap.  60). 

"  Kore,  daughter  of  Zeus,  is  an  imitation  of 
this  Spirit  of  God,  which  is  borne  upon  the 
waters.  And  in  their  malice  they  similarly 
said  that  Athene  too  was  daughter  of  Zeus, 
born  without  sexual  intercourse.  They  knew 
that  God  had  first  conceived  the  world,  and 
then  made  it  through  His  Logos,  so  the  original 
conception  they  said  to  be  Athene.  To  us  it 
seems  supremely  ridiculous  to  propose  the 
female  sex  as  symbolizing  thought  "  (1  Ap.  64). 

"  I  shall  now  make  quite  clear  that  though 
they  heard  what  the  prophets  said  they  did  not 
understand  it  accurately,  but  imitated  what  is 
told  about  our  Christ  in  a  mistaken  way.  Well, 
Moses  the  prophet,  as  I  said  before,  was  earlier 
than  any  other  author ;  and  by  means  of  him 
.  •  .  the  following  prophecy  was  given  :  *  There 
shall  not  be  lacking  a  ruler  from  Judah  and  a 
governor  from  his  loins,  until  [He  come].  .  . .  He 
shall  be  the  expectation  of  the  Gentiles,  tether- 
ing his  colt  to  the  vine,  and  washing  his  robe 
in  the  blood  of  the  grape'  (Gen.  xlix.  10-11). 
The  demons,  therefore,  hearing  these  prophetic 

K  129 


ST.  JUSTIN   THE  MARTYR 

words,  said  that  there  was  born  a  Dionysos, 
son  of  Zeus,  and  they  handed  it  down  that  he 
was  the  inventor  of  the  vine  ;  and  they  wrote 
of  wine  in  his  mysteries,  and  taught  that  he 
was  torn  asunder  and  then  went  up  into  heaven. 
And  since  the  prophecy  of  Moses  did  not  state 
explicitly  if  he  who  should  come  were  a  son 
of  God,  nor  whether,  when  riding  on  the  colt, 
he  was  to  remain  on  earth  or  go  up  to  heaven, 
and  since  the  word  '  foal '  could  apply  equally 
well  to  the  offspring  of  an  ass  as  of  a  mare,  the 
demons  could  not  understand  whether  he  who 
was  prophesied  would  bring  an  ass's  foal  or  a 
mare's  as  a  mark  of  his  manifestation,  nor 
whether  he  was  to  be  a  son  of  God ;  so  they 
recounted  that  Bellerophon,  a  man  and  a  son 
of  men,  mounted  to  heaven  on  the  horse 
Pegasus.  They  had  learnt  through  another 
prophet,  Isaiah,  that  He  was  to  be  born  of  a 
virgin  and  go  up  to  heaven  by  His  own  power, 
so  they  produced  the  story  of  Perseus.  [So 
those  of  Herakles  and  Asklepios]."  (ib.  54.) 
"  But  in  the  case  of  none  of  these  so-called  sons 
of  Zeus  did  they  contemplate  the  Crucifixion. 
For  this  never  occurred  to  them,  seeing  that 
all  that  was  said  about  that  was,  as  I  have 
already  made  plain,  symbolically  set  forth.  .  .  . 
This,  as  the  Prophet  foretold,  is  the  greatest 
mark  of  His  strength  and  rule,  as  is  shown  by 
what  falls  under  our  very  eyes.  Reflect  on 
the  world  and  all  that  is  in  it ;   and  see  whether 

130 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

without  this  Sign  of  the  Cross  the  world  can 
be  ordered  or  form  a  whole.  The  sea  cannot 
be  cleft,  if  this  trophy — this  mark — be  not 
standing  firm  in  the  ship.  The  earth  cannot 
be  ploughed  without  it  :  labourers  and  working 
men  cannot  do  their  business  save  by  means  of 
tools  that  have  the  shape.  Man's  shape  itself 
differs  in  nothing  from  that  of  the  brute 
beasts,  save  that  he  stands  upright  and  can 
spread  his  arms  out,  and  in  his  very  face  has 
his  nose,  through  which  living  creatures  breathe, 
stretched  from  his  forehead  down,  and  displays 
the  self-same  sign  of  the  cross.  In  fact,  through 
the  Prophets  it  was  thus  ordered :  '  The 
breath  of  our  face  is  Christ's  the  Lord ' 
(Lam.  iv.  20).  Even  your  own  symbols  display 
the  power  of  this  sign,  I  mean  those  of  your 
standards  and  your  trophies,  which  everywhere 
precede  you  on  the  march ;  you  show  forth 
the  signs  of  your  rule  and  power  in  these 
[crosses],  even  if  you  do  not  realize  what  you 
are  doing.  And  when  your  Emperors  die  you 
put  up  their  images  under  this  sign,  and  name 
them  gods  in  your  inscriptions"  (1  Af.  55). 

Athenagoras,  too,  combats  the  idea  that 
the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  Logos  Son 
of  God  is  comparable  to  the  pagan  myths. 
Their  gods  were  no  better  than  men. 

"  The  Son  of  God  is  God's  Logos  in  thought 
and  energy.      For  by  Him  and  through  Him 
131 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

were  all  things  made,  Father  and  Son  being 
One.  As  the  Son  is  in  the  Father  and  the 
Father  in  the  Son  by  the  unity  and  power  of 
the  Spirit,  the  Son  of  God  is  the  Intelligence 
and  Logos  of  the  Father.  If  you  pursue  your 
research  so  far  as  to  ask  what  the  Son  is,  I 
answer,  in  a  word,  the  First-Begotten  of  the 
Father.  I  do  not  mean  the  first  He  made  : 
since  the  beginning,  God,  who  is  the  Eternal 
Intelligence,  had  in  Him  the  Logos,  but  He 
came  forth  from  Him  to  be  the  idea  and  energy 
of  all  material  elements,  which  lay  like  confused 
matter  and  formless  earth,  the  denser  mingled 
with  the  subtler"  (Ath.  Leg,   io). 

Theophilus  (Aut.  II.  io,  22)  is  confused 
owing  to  his  Stoic  terminology. 

"  God's  word  was,  from  eternity,  immanent 
within  Him,  and  God  begat  Him  together 
with  His  Wisdom,  when  He  willed  to  create 
man  in  order  to  reveal  Himself  to  him.  He 
used  this  Logos  as  assistant  in  His  works,  and 
through  Him  created  all  things.  It  was  He, 
the  Spirit  of  God,  the  Active  Principle  and 
the  Wisdom  and  the  Power  of  the  Most  High, 
who  came  down  into  the  Prophets.  .  .  .  For 
there  were  not  yet  Prophets  when  the  world 
was  made,  but  only  the  immanent  Wisdom  of 
God  and  His  holy  Logos,  who  is  for  ever  with 
Him.  .  .  ." 

132 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

But,  in  particular,  he  insists  that  such 
stories  originate  in  the  malice  of  demons 
who  "  imitate  "  the  Biblical  prophecies.1 

"  People  can  see  how  unlike  the  myth- 
writers  concerning  the  so-called c  Sons  of  Zeus': 
we  speak  :  we  can  also  prove  what  we  say.  .  .  . 
Those  who  hand  down  the  myths  made  by 
poets  to  children,  who  learn  them  by  heart, 
provide  no  proof  of  what  they  say ;  but  we 
prove  that,  with  the  deceiving  and  seduction  of 
the  human  race,  those  myths  are  told  through 
the  working  of  evil  spirits.  .  .  .  Knowing  by 
the  Prophets  that  Christ  was  to  come  and  that 
the  wicked  among  men  would  be  punished  by 
fire,  they  put  forward  stories  of  many  who  were 
born  '  sons  of  Zeus/  thinking  that  they  would 
bring  it  to  pass  that  men  would  believe  the 
story  of  Christ  to  be  a  fairy  tale,  like  the  stories 
of  the  poets.  These  tales  were  told  among  the 
Greeks  and  among  all  the  heathen,  especially 
where  they  knew  by  the  prophecies  that  Christ 
would  be  believed  in"  (Tr.  53,  54). 

"  When  those  who  initiate  people  into  the 
mysteries  of  Mithra  say  he  was  born  of  a  rock, 

1  In  Athenagoras  (Leg.  26),  the  demon  theory  is  coupled 
with  the  pagans'  own  Euhemerist  theory,  i.e.  that  the  gods 
were  really  men,  glorified  by  the  imagination  of  succeeding 
centuries  (cf.  Theoph.  Jut.  10-11,  etc.).  Tertullian  and 
Minucius  Felix,  in  particular,  apply  this  double  method  to 
the  history  of  Rome. 

133 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

and  call  the  place  where  they  hand  over  the 
initiation  to  the  candidates  a  '  cave,'  I  know 
well  that  they  are  imitating  therein  the  saying 
of  Daniel  (ii.  45),  how  a  stone  was  cut  without 
hands  out  of  a  great  mountain,  and  even  the 
doctrine  of  Isaiah,  all  of  whose  words,  in  fact, 
they  have  undertaken  to  imitate "  {Tr.  70 ; 
cf.  1  J  p.  66,  Tr.  78). 

Here,  again,  it  may  be  asked  if  Justin's 
controversy  has  served  any  permanent 
result.  I .  think  so.  We  shall  not  be 
inclined  to  accept  his  theory  of  the  origin 
of  this  pagan  practice  or  that,  of  this  or 
that  myth.  But  he  has  put  clearly  into 
light  the  organic  nature  of  narrative  and 
moral  character  which  is  discernible  in 
the  Christian  tradition.  Thus,  had  the 
Gospel  miracles  been  related  of  one  whose 
moral  character  had  had  nothing  remark- 
able about  it,  or  had  they  produced 
immoral  consequences,  we  should  at  once 
have  suspected  them.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  we  see  the  spiritual  co-efficient  in 
the  narrative  working  in  harmony  with 
the  incidents,  and  operating  spiritually 
through  them,  their  credibility  is  enor- 
mously enhanced.  But  further,  in  view 
134 


THE  DOCTRINE   OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

of  the  modern  theory  that  the  life  of  Christ 
is  in  some  sort  of  organic  connection  with 
pagan  myth,  and  drew  its  miraculous 
instances  from  such  a  source,  we  find 
Justin  provides  us  with  at  least  three 
considerations  which  show  that  to  be 
impossible. 

The  first  is,  precisely,  his  consciousness 
of  the  far  Jewish  background  ;  and  of 
the  Palestinian  terrain,  in  which  Chris- 
tianity struck  all  its  roots.  I  will  say 
merely  that  the  antecedents  and  structural 
elements  of  the  Christian  story  are  to  be 
looked  for  in  Judaism,  and  nowhere  else, 
save  in  so  far  as  they  are  original  and  stand 
on  their  own  basis. 

Again,  the  whole  attitude  of  Justin  and 
his  contemporaries  makes  it  clear  that  so 
academic  a  notion  as  the  derivation  of 
Christian  history  from  pagan  sources 
could  simply  not  have  occurred  to  them. 
The  pagan,  taking  a  purely  outside  view, 
a  static  view,  of  the  elements  of  the 
Christian  narrative,  might  have  done  so 
till  he  examined  its  true  origin  ;  and  the 
compiler  of  study-made  theories,  again 
looking  at  the  facts  statically  and  from 
135 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTTR 

outside,  can  do  the  same  to-day.  But  any 
one  who  is  aware  of  paganism  and  Chris- 
tianity as  living  forces  and  organisms,  as 
Justin  was,  and  as  we  if  we  choose  can  be, 
is  aware  of  the  inherent  absurdity  of  any 
such  suggestion.  Not  only  in  Justin's 
time  was  there  nowhere  any  trace  or  even 
relic  of  consciousness  that  the  two  systems 
and  lives  had  anything  in  common,  but 
there  was  so  very  clear  a  consciousness  that 
they  had  not,  that  the  very  statement  of 
the  possibility  astonished  and  exasperated 
Christians. 

For,  finally,  where  the  attitude  of  so 
broad-minded  and  sympathetic  a  man  as 
Justin  was  one  of  loathing  for  and  utter 
alienation  from  the  pagan  myth-religion, 
conscious  borrowing  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, and  there  was  no  psychological 
prerequisite  of  any  kind  to  have  allowed 
of  unconscious  borrowing.  The  Christians 
were  far  too  self-conscious,  and  were  inevit- 
ably so,  not  to  be  aware  of  what  they  were 
doing  ;  and  all  their  awareness  was  anti- 
pathetic to  any  such  procedure. 


136 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

§    iv 

A  double  interior  impetus  sent  the 
Christians  vigorously  towards  the  thought 
of  Eternity.  The  pagans  made  their 
earthly  life  so  anxious  and  insecure  that 
they  found  it  the  easier  task  to  fix  the 
centre  of  gravity  of  existence  in  the 
next.  But  this  itself  throws  a  vivid  light 
on  their  faith,  their  hope,  and  their  love 
for  Christ.  For,  had  these  been  lacking, 
or  weak,  the  Invisible  and  Eternal  would 
never  have  outweighed  the  transitory  yet 
assured  satisfactions  of  the  present  which 
they  could  so  easily  have  obtained.  Their 
love  for  Jesus  swept  them  so  rapidly 
beyond  the  practical  possibility  of  denying 
Him,  they  were  so  eager  really  to  be 
"  with  the  Lord  "  who  had  recast  their 
whole  existence  for  them,  that  they  could, 
as  we  have  heard  Justin  often  saying, 
withstand  all  that  was  most  horrible  in 
martyrdom  with  a  courage  that  drove 
their  persecutors  to  sheer  exasperation. 

Justin  and  the  Apologists  are  so  preoc- 
cupied with  the  overwhelming  and  eternal 
fact,  the  tremendous  alternative,  that  they 
i37 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

discuss  its  details  but  little.  At  most,  here 
and  there,  for  their  readers*  sakes,  they 
bring  into  it  some  sort  of  connection  with 
the  Stoic  doctrine  of  a  final  conflagration. 

"  If  men  show  by  their  works  that  they  are 
worthy  of  God's  counsel,  we  have  been  taught 
that  they  shall  be  judged  fit  for  His  society  and 
shall  share  His  kingdom,  having  become  exempt 
from  pain  and  corruption  "  (i  Ap.  10). 

"  More  than  anyone  else,  we  are  allies  of  yours 
and  help  you  towards  peace,  because  of  our 
doctrine.  No  evil-worker,  nor  avaricious,  or 
intriguer  or  honest  man  can  escape  the  eye 
of  God,  but  each,  according  to  his  works,  goes 
to  eternal  punishment  or  salvation"  (i  A  p.  12). 

"  No  one  would  commit  sin  for  a  moment  if  he 
knew  he  was  on  his  way  to  eternal  punishment 
by  fire.  Nothing  can  escape  the  eye  of  God, 
neither  action  nor  intention"  (1  Ap.  12). 

"  We  are  convinced  that  each,  according  to 
the  worth  of  his  actions,  will  pay  penalty  by 
means  of  eternal  fire,  and  that  we  shall  have 
to  render  account  according  to  the  measure  of 
the  powers  we  have  received  from  God  "  (1  A  p. 

17)- 

"  If  death  were  the  end,  it  would  be  a  blessing 

for  the  wicked ;  but,  for  all  who  have  ever 
lived,  consciousness  endures,  and  eternal  punish- 
ment awaits  them"  (1  Ap.  17). 

"  [When  we  are  accused  of  being  Christians, 
138 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

Justin  argues,  we  could  plead  "  Not  guilty," 
but  we  do  not  want  to  live  on  the  strength 
of  a  lie.]  We  crave  for  a  life  eternal  and 
incorruptible,  and  prefer  to  live  for  ever  with 
God  the  Father  and  Maker  of  all  things,  and 
we  are  eager  to  profess  our  faith,  convincedly 
believing  that  they  shall  obtain  that  destiny  who 
have  proved  to  God  by  their  works  that  they 
have  been  following  Him,  and  were  in  love 
with  the  life  that  is  with  Him,  where  no  evil 
assails  them.  .  .  .  Similarly  Plato  said  that 
Rhadamanthus  and  Minos  would  punish  those 
who  came  guilty  before  them  :  we  say  that  the 
self-same  thing  shall  happen,  only  at  the  hands 
of  Christ.  The  wicked  shall  appear  in  their 
self-same  bodies,  with  their  souls,  and  shall  be 
punished,  but  not  for  a  period  of  1,000  years, 
as  Plato  said,  alone"  (i  Af.  8).1 

"Lest  anyone  quote  theso-called  philosophers, 
and  say  that  our  doctrine  is  mere  romance  and 
a  bogey-tale,  when  we  teach  that  the  wicked 
shall  be  punished  in  eternal  fire,  and  that  we 

1  Justin  and  others,  though  not  (he  affirms)  all,  say  that 
there  will  be  a  1,000  years'  reign  of  the  Saints  with  Christ 
at  Jerusalem  ;  but  this  is  an  open  question,  whereas  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  is  not  (Tr.  80-81).  In  I  Ap.  52 
Justin  affirms  the  second  and  glorious  advent  of  Christ, 
"  when  He  shall  also  raise  up  the  bodies  of  all  men  who  have 
ever  existed,  and  shall  clothe  those  of  the  just  with 
immortality,  while  the  unjust  He  shall  send  into  the  eternal 
fire,  where  they  shall  consciously  exist,  eternally,  with  the 
evil  demons." 

139 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

seek  to  lead  men  to  virtue  by  fear  and  not  by 
love  of  good  [I  answer  briefly,  If  our  doctrine 
is  untrue,  either  God  does  not  exist,  or  He 
ignores  the  distinction  between  right  and 
wrong,  and  human  legislation  may  as  well  do 
the  same.]  "     (2  Af.  9). 

"  It  is  for  the  sake  of  the  Christian  folk  that 
God  retards  the  collapse  and  dissolution  of  the 
universe  that  shall  cause  evil  angels,  demons, 
and  men  to  exist  no  more.  In  the  Christians 
He  discerns  a  cause  [for  this  delay].  Else  .  .  . 
the  fire  of  the  judgment  would  come  down  and 
reduce  utterly  all  that  is  into  fragments.  .  .  . 
Thus  it  is  that  we  say  the  final  Conflagration 
will  occur,  not,  as  the  Stoics  do,  on  the  principle 
of  everything  turning  into  everything  else — a 
miserable  theory"  (2  Ap.  7). 

"  The  demons  shall  be  shut  up  in  the  eternal 
fire  and  receive  their  just  punishment  and 
vengeance.  For  the  fact  that  they  are  already 
conquered  by  men  through  the  Name  of  Jesus 
Christ  teaches  us  that  they  and  those  who  serve 
them  shall  undergo  the  punishment  of  eternal 
fire"  (zAp.  8). 

"  We  look  forward  to  the  dead  who  are  put 
into  the  earth  recovering  their  bodies,  for  we 
say  that  with  God  no  sort  of  thing  is  im- 
possible" (1  Af.  8). 

"  [Even  as  the  body  of  man  grows  to  per- 
fection from  an  origin  so  utterly  dissimilar]  in 
the  same  way  you  must  argue  that  the  bodies 

140 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

of  men,  dissolved  and  scattered  abroad  like  seed 
upon  the  earth,  may  well,  at  the  appointed  time, 
by  the  command  of  God,  arise  and  clothe 
themselves  in  immortality.,,  .  .  .  (i  Ap.  19). 

"  Gehenna  is  the  place  where  sinners  shall  be 
punished,  and  those  who  did  not  believe  that 
all  that  God  taught  through  Christ  would 
happen  "  (1  Ap.  19). 

"  Both  the  Sibyl  and  Hystaspes  said  that  there 
would  be  a  destruction  of  corruptible  nature 
by  means  of  fire.  The  '  Stoic  philosophers  ' 
declare  that  the  god  himself  is  to  be  dissolved 
into  fire l ;  .  .  .  but  we  considered  God  far 
different  :  in  certain  points,  therefore,  we 
agree  with,  and  in  others  transcend  their 
doctrine. 

When  we  say  that  all  things  were  created 
and  ordered  by  God,  we  shall  be  seen  to  be 
declaring  Plato's  doctrine ;  when  we  affirm 
the  final  conflagration,  that  of  the  Stoics ; 
when  we  say  that  the  souls  of  the  wicked  shall 
be  conscious  after  death  and  punished,  and 
those  of  the  righteous  shall  go  unpunished  and 
be  happy,  we  shall  but  be  saying  what  both 
poets  and  philosophers  have  said"  (1  Ap.  20). 
*  *  * 

Three  points  may  be    singled    out    in 

1  After  all,  this  was  not  quite  fair.  The  Stoic  god  was 
the  fire.  Epictetus  says  he  does  survive.  He  is  not  self- 
consumed.  Still,  he  was  impersonal  and  in  the  long  run 
material.    Plutarch  argued  like  Justin. 

141 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

which  the  work  of  the  Apologists  was  of 
tremendous  and  permanent  value. 

The  Christians  were  called  atheists. 
None  the  less,  it  was  their  Apologists 
who  disentangled  the  true  idea  of  God 
from  among  the  confused  notions  which 
seethed  in  contemporary  brains.  One  of 
the  marvels  of  history  seems  to  be  the 
continuous  yet  unsuccessful  effort  of  ancient 
philosophy  to  get  a  proper  idea  of  God; 
both  philosophy,  and  indeed  religions, 
seemed  ever  on  the  point  of  doing  so,  and 
ever  failed.  Thought  and  feeling  alike 
kept  sweeping  upwards  ;  then,  the  wings 
drooped  ;  the  goal  was  not  reached  ; 
even  such  vision  as  had  been  won  seemed 
quite  beyond  the  power  of  men  in  the 
mass  to  appropriate  of  preserve.  Aristotle, 
with  infinite  labour,  excogitated  a  Natural 
Theology  so  nearly  perfect  as  still  to  be, 
in  the  main,  the  instrument  of  Catholic 
thinkers  ;  yet  one  may  safely  say  that  it  is, 
precisely,  the  Church  which  has  rescued, 
perfected,  and  used  it.  Among  the  Arabs, 
it  was  passing  into  Pantheism  ;  and  in  the 
old  world,  contemporary  with  the  Apolo- 
gists, it  must  have  exercised  no  popular 

142 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

influence  at  all,  while  among  thinkers  it 
had  entered  indeed  into  the  most  different 
schools,  just  as  Platonism  did,  but  even  so 
seemed  to  produce  nothing  definite  or 
agreed  upon.  If  we  are  to  generalize, 
philosophical  religion  had  bifurcated,  and 
had  gone  either,  with  the  Stoics,  towards 
making  God  so  immanent  in  His  universe 
as  to  lose  sight  of  His  transcendence 
altogether  ;  or,  as  in  those  schools  which 
ended  in  Gnosticism  or  Neoplatonism, 
it  made  Him  so  transcendent  as  to  be  out 
of  touch  with  universe  and  matter  in 
particular  ;  so  that  in  either  case  God  in  no 
essential  way  could  mean  anything  intelli- 
gible to  man.  Popular  religion  was 
not  preached,  save  spasmodically  and  by 
eccentrics  like  the  Cynics  or  like  Apol- 
lonius  of  Tyana,  or  Maximus  of  Tyre,  in 
particular  ;  and  we  have  the  very  definite 
feeling  that  the  glib  formulae  of  such  men, 
though  they  might  include  much  true 
philosophy  of  God,  never  really  gripped 
the  consciousness  of  the  hearers,  and 
perhaps  none  too  often  of  the  preachers. 

Even    Judaism    was,    one    would    say, 
trying  to  spoil  the  pure  idea  of  the  One 
"43 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

God  which  had  been  its  prerogative. 
Among  the  philosophizing  Jews  He  was 
becoming  remote,  impersonal,  less  acces- 
sible than  the  series  of  subordinate  powers 
interposed  between  Him  and  men  ;  among 
the  conservative  Palestinians  He  had 
become  (as  has  been  said)  little  more  than 
some  celestial  Rabbi,  meticulously  legal- 
ist, whose  name  men  feared  to  mention. 

Christianity  did  not  begin  by  philo- 
sophizing, assuredly,  about  God  ;  it 
preached,  however,  a  God  to  whom  every 
attribute  which  reason  should  recognize  as 
appropriate  was  felt,  massively,  to  belong  : 
moreover,  Our  Lord  had  revealed  Him  as 
pre-eminently  all  that  the  best  ideal  of 
Fatherhood  suggests.  It  kept  the  notion 
of  God  utterly  pure,  and  brought  the 
presence  and  "  character  "  of  God  utterly 
near.  His  purity  thrust  Him  not  aloof  ; 
His  nearness  did  not  soil  Him.  This 
fundamental  revelation  was  not  forgotten 
by  the  Apologists,  though  it  was  their 
chosen  duty  to  state  in  language  as  clear 
and  accurate  as  they  might  what  reason 
declared  to  be  true  of  Him.  Thus 
throughout  the  Christian  folk,  in  sharp 
144 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

distinction  over  against  the  welter  of  pan- 
theisms, agnosticisms,  polytheistic  myths 
all  round  it,  from  simplest  to  most  learned, 
reigned  a  pure,  vigorous,  and  fertile 
idea  of  God,  Absolute,  Eternal,  Spiritual, 
Infinite,  Unique,  which  has  never  been 
lost  by  the  Catholic  Church.  It  is  re- 
markable that,  outside  her,  this  radical 
belief  in  God  has  always,  in  the  long  run, 
suffered,  so  that  nowadays  it  is  not  unfair 
to  say  that,  in  our  country,  God,  and  the 
idea  of  Moral  Law  flowing  directly  from 
Him,  speaking  in  conscience  and  authori- 
tatively ordering  life,  are,  if  not  "  un- 
known "  as  ever,  at  least  so  confused  once 
more  and  injured  as  to  be  all  too  often 
useless,  and  assuredly  unused. 

The  second  point  of  permanent  im- 
portancewas,  the  effort  to  state  the  Catholic 
Faith  not  only  in  philosophical  terms,  as  far 
as  it  was  patient  of  any  such  statement,  but 
even,  in  the  terms  of  a  particular  contem- 
porary philosophy  ;  or,  at  least,  to  use 
(modifying  its  application)  the  termino- 
logy of  a  group  of  schools  of  thought.  It 
is  a  great  exaggeration  to  say  that  Justin 
"  Hellenized  "  the  faith  which  had 
l  145 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

hitherto  been  Jewish,  or  that  he  turned 
the  Christian  religion  from,  say,  a  senti- 
ment into  a  system.  He  made  it  nothing 
that  it  was  not  before.  He  had  been 
"  taught  "  this  and  that.  The  Christian 
revelation  is,  for  him  as  for  the  earliest 
Christians  of  all,  fully  authoritative.  But 
he  tries  to  see  whether  or  no  the  Catholic 
dogma  can  be  stated,  without  injury,  in  a 
particular  language.  It  is  true  that,  some 
fifty  years  before,  St.  John's  Gospel '  had 
given  him,  as  it  were,  the  hint  of  its 
Prologue.  But,  as  I  said  above,  I  do  not 
think  St.  John  was  there  doing  exactly 
what  I  think  Justin  was  trying  to  do. 
After  another  thousand  years  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas  would  attempt  a  somewhat 
similar,  or  even  bolder,  experiment  ;  for 
Aristotle,  whom  he  determined  to  "  bap- 
tize/' had  come  to  have  a  very  positively 
bad  name  among  Aquinas's  immediate 
predecessors,  and  was  known  as  "  the 
Heretic  "  par  excellence^  and  St.  Thomas 
was  roundly  abused  by  many  of  his  most 
distinguished  contemporaries.  But  he 
succeeded  in  utilizing  Aristotelianism   so 

1  Allowing  it  to  have  been  written  about  a.d.  ioo. 
146 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

well  that  his  philosophy  is  still  official 
in  the  Church.  In  our  own  time 
attempts  have  been  made  to  construct  an 
"  evolutionary  "  statement  of  the  Faith. 
These  on  the  whole  have  failed,  partly 
because  of  the  undecided  value  of  any 
particular  evolutionary  hypothesis,  partly 
because  of  the  notion  of  Evolution  itself, 
far  less  well  worked  out  and  far  more 
ambiguously  stated  than  any  substantial 
element  used  by  Aristotle  ;  and,  probably, 
because  of  some  radical  hostility  in  the  two 
systems.  Somewhat  in  the  same  way  efforts 
to  restate  Catholicism  according  to  the 
principles,  and  in  the  language  of  Kant, 
have  failed.  But  the  group  of  Apologists 
sanctioned,  once  and  for  all,  the  attempt. 
The  Apologists,  like  ourselves,  are  quite 
clear  that  it  belongs  to  the  Christian 
Authority  to  decide  whether  the  attempt 
has  proved  successful,  or  how  far,  or 
whether  thought  may  legitimately  strive 
to  proceed  along  those  particular  lines. 
In  the  concrete,  Justin  and  his  fellows  got 
into  genuine  difficulties.  No  wonder. 
They  were  seeking  an  adjustment,  and 
they  would  naturally  run  the  risk  of  re- 
H7 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

modelling  one  or  the  other  of  the  two 
elements  in  order  to  effect  this.  Thus, 
if  the  Second  Person  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
and  His  relation  to  the  Father,  and  His 
creative  r61e,  were  to  be  stated  in  Logos- 
terminology,  there  was  at  once  a  danger  of 
subordinating  the  Logos  twice  over  to  the 
Father  of  all,  "  God."  God's  thought 
seemed  all  too  easily  somehow  secondary 
to  God  Himself.  Still  more  did  the 
utterance  of  that  thought  appear  to  suggest 
a  change  in  the  Logos  as  It  passed  from 
being  immanent  (eVSiaferos),  to  ex- 
pressed  (wpocfyopiKos).  Its  utterance  in 
the  universe  seemed  to  warrant  that  event 
being  described  as  Its  Begetting  ;  so, 
almost,  did  Its  utterance  in  Christ.  Words 
like  First-Begotten,  especially  when  the 
Greek  for  "  first-begotten  of  creatures  " 
and  for  "  first-begotten,  before  creatures  " 
could  be  identical,  necessarily  gave  rise  to 
further  ambiguities.  I  will  not  deny, 
too,  that  the  wonderfully  fertile,  optimistic, 
and  in  many  ways  true  doctrine  of  the 
Logos  Spermatikos  could  itself  give  rise  to 
misconceptions  alike  of  the  nature  of  the 
Logos — for  could  It  be  divided  ?  and 
148 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF   THE  APOLOGISTS 

how  ? — and  of  the  character  of  man's 
participation  in  It.  Was  the  Logos  in 
Christ  but  quantitatively  more  present  than 
It  had  been  in  Socrates  ?  Last  of  all,  it 
was  plain  that  the  Logos  doctrine,  as  such, 
exhausted  itself  (in  pagan  theology)  in  the 
notions  of  God  conceiving  and  uttering 
the  Word,  and  in  the  Word  Itself.  No 
real  room  was  left  there  for  any  third. 
The  system  failed  the  Apologists  when 
they  wanted  to  speak  philosophically  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  There  is  no  real  question 
of  their  having  confused  the  Second  and 
Third  Persons  of  the  Trinity  ;  still  less, 
of  their  ignoring  the  Third.  But,  quite 
apart  from  the  lack  of  terminology  which 
could  have  saved  them  from  unfortunate 
turns  of  phrase  suggesting  that  the  Three 
held  "  ranks  "  one  below  the  other,  they 
were  more  or  less  driven  to  consider  the 
operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  primarily  in 
that  department  which  made  to  their 
purpose — that  is,  in  prophecy — rather 
than  quite  generally,  or  in  Itself.1 

1  This,  too,  accounts  for  the  real  confusion  visible  where 
Justin  seems  to  identify  the  Holy  Spirit  with  the  Logos 
when  he  is  discussing  the  Virgin  Birth. 

149 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTYR 

In  spite  of  all  this,  I  feel  we  should 
applaud  Justin  not  only  for  having  em- 
barked so  courageously  on  so  high  an 
enterprise,  but  for  a  very  real  success,  and 
a  success  excellent  in  itself,  and  not  alone 
because  it  enabled  his  successors  to  do  their 
yet  more  perfect  work.  I  think  you  feel 
this  if  you  compare  him  with  a  writer  like 
Philostratus,  who  composed  the  Life  of 
Apollonius.  From  a  literary  point  of 
view,  I  cannot  judge  Justin  to  be  any  more 
successful  than  Philostratus  was  to  be : 
in  fact,  to  read  Justin  has  continually  made 
me  remember  that  diffuse  and  disorderly 
writer.  Justin,  too,  repeats  himself,  gets 
entangled  in  his  sentences,  embarks  upon 
digressions,  mixes  the  ways  in  which  he  is 
using  evidence,  and  especially  in  the 
Trypho  puts  not  much  order  in  his  argu- 
ments. Yet  throughout  you  feel  that  here 
is  an  intelligence — not  that  by  any  means 
of  a  genius,  but  that  of  a  man  who  had 
been  subjected  to  the  most  chaotic  educa- 
tion,1 and  had  survived  it,  by  sheer  force 

1  Even  at  its  best,  I  think  that  philosophic  education  in 
the  Roman  world  must  have  been  fairly  chaotic  ;  and  to 
pass  from  school  to  school,  as  to  some  extent  at  least  Justin 
must  have  done,  was  not  a  helpful  method. 

150 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

of   good    average    sense    and    character — 
well,  an  intelligence  most  resolutely  apply- 
ing itself  to  the  most  terrific  of  all  pro- 
blems, that  is,  not  only  the  working  out 
of  one  system,  nor  yet  of  two,   but  the 
synthetizing  of  an   existing  system  with 
another  which  had  first  to  be  created,  and 
both  were  very  difficult  to  manage.     His 
tenacity  is  admirable  :  he  holds  tight  on  to 
those  elements  in  each  about  which  he  is 
sure  ;    he  means  every  word  he  says,  and 
does  not,  like  Philostratus,  or  like  that  far 
more  brilliant  sceptic  Lucian,  slip  about, 
without  even  noticing  he  is  doing  so,  from 
one  position  into  its  contradictory.     Nor 
yet   is  he,  as  they  were,  fatally  familiar 
with     the     philosophic    jargon,     fluently 
uttering     metaphysical     catchwords,    and 
prolific  of  pat  formulae.     In  consequence 
we  develop  a  very  great  sense  of  respect 
for  Justin,  and  diagnose  in  him,  first  and 
foremost,  a  motive  which  is  not  to  be  found 
elsewhere,  not  even  in  those  best  of  Stoics, 
Seneca,  Epictetus,  or  Marcus  Aurelius,  who 
in   some  ways  stand   out   so  much   more 
decoratively  than  the  Palestinian   student. 
The  third  great  topic  on  which  he  has 
151 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTTR 

fixed  our  eyes  is  the  striving  of  God's  Spirit 
with  man  throughout  all  human  history. 
Not  indeed  as  though  there  were  discer- 
nible, there,  a  homogeneous  evolution,  or 
any  development  reducible  to  a  formula 
or  mechanical  law  ;  but  a  continual, 
ubiquitous  activity  of  God,  different  ac- 
cording as  its  field  was  the  world  at  large 
or  the  Jewish  race,  and  again,  as  unique 
and  total  in  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
Eternal  Word  of  God,  true  man,  and  our 
Redeemer  ;  and  yet,  identical  in  its 
source,  which  was  God  Himself,  and  con- 
spiring to  the  same  end,  namely,  the 
"  recapitulation  "  of  all  things  into  Christ. 
This  thought  is  inexhaustible.  Obser- 
vation, speculation,  and  worship  find  in  it 
an  undying  stimulus,  and  a  guide.  From 
end  to  end  reaches  the  Wisdom  of  God, 
and  from  highest  to  lowest  stretches  the 
span  of  the  Incarnation.  We  could  go  so 
far  as  to  say  that  we  might  be  wise, 
nowadays,  to  go  directly  counter  to  the 
tendency  of  so  many  "  philosophies  of 
history."  They  have  accepted  the  evolu- 
tionary hypothesis — the  gradual,  unbroken, 
upward  development  of  the  material  and 
152 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

then  the  living  world,  and  they  have 
transferred  that  to  history,  and  they  seek 
to  place  Christianity  somewhere  in  that 
inevitable  series.  The  triple  utterance  of 
the  Logos,  in  the  race  at  large,  in  Judaism, 
and  in  Christ — triple,  yet  teleological ; 
three  invasions  of  the  Divine,  yet  one  in 
aim,  looking  towards  One,  formative  of 
One — might  far  more  likely  be  that  of 
which  the  appearance  of  life  upon  the  earth 
is  the  image  :  an  influx  from  God,  triply 
distinct,  yet  all  of  it  life  ;  discontinuous 
in  a  true  sense,  yet  again  aspiring  towards 
full  human  life,  intelligent  and  free,  con- 
scious of  self  and  God.  Even  though 
theology  may  not  be  able  to  dictate  con- 
clusions to  the  physical  sciences,  yet  it  is 
daily  being  proved  wise  even  for  the  "  lay  " 
sciences  to  accept  hints  as  to  direction  from 
the  traditional  creed,  and  it  is  in  the  above 
direction  that  a  modern  Stoic  might 
legitimately  develop  his  Logos-theme. 

Be  all  that  as  it  may,  the  historical  fact 
remains  that  Justin  helped  Europe  to  an 
understanding  of  God,  of  Christ,  and  of 
human  history  ;  and  without  him  the 
great  men  of  ensuing  ages  would  have 
i53 


ST.  JUSTIN  THE  MARTTR 

found  their  task  a  thousand  times  more 
hard. 

We  may  own  to  a  sense  almost  of  awe, 
when  we  watch  the  laborious  pioneer- 
work  of  these  men  in  the  precarious  enter- 
prise of  applying  human  thought  to  God. 
We  may  imagine  that  it  was  with  relief, 
with  gratitude  that  this  shouldered  duty 
might  at  last  be  laid  aside,  that  Justin 
heard  the  call  to  witness  no  more  to  the 
truth  by  philosophizing,  but  by  the 
argument  of  his  blood.  For,  as  we  have 
often  said,  we  love  him  not  least  for  his 
admirable  singleness  of  heart  and  his 
frankness.  Tatian  attacks,  bitterly,  almost 
less  because  he  is  a  Christian,  than 
because,  an  Oriental,  he  is  glad  to  flay 
the  supercilious  Greeks  ;  Minucius  Felix 
offers  honeyed  bait  to  educated  pagans, 
and  almost  suggests  that  the  cultured  will 
find  little  to  object  to  in  Christianity,  if 
they  will  only  come  and  hear  what  he  will 
have  to  tell  them  about  it — for,  in  fine,  his 
charming  pages  tell  Caecilius  very  little 
that  is  positive  !  And  in  general  the 
Apologists,  as  we  said,  were  defending 
themselves  against  attacks,  or  at  most 
154 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS 

emphasizing  such  parts  of  their  creed  as 
might  for  some  reason  or  another  appeal 
to  the  pagan  intellect.  But  Justin,  though 
rebutting  attack,  though  retorting  criticism, 
though  undoubtedly  "  philosophizing  " 
dogma  as  best  he  might,  yet  went  nearer 
than  any  others,  who  survive,  in  trusting 
to  the  force  of  the  full  Truth  fully  stated. 
Where  the  Faith  is  definite,  he  affirms  it  ; 
where  opinion  is  free,  and  his  own  not 
shared  by  all,  he  acknowledges  it  ;  a 
transparency,  an  honourableness,  a  coura- 
geous simplicity  charm  us  in  this  man 
who  thought,  spoke  and  died  for  his  faith, 
and  whose  reward  has  been,  that  his  De- 
fence, which  might  seem  suited  to  place 
and  hour  merely,  has  endured  in  value  for 
so  many  generations. 


155 


Index 


Adam,  sin  of :   88,  90 

Angels,     sin    of :      91-92.     Cf. 

Demons 
Apologists  :    in  general,  30-32  ; 

permanent  value  of,  141 -155 
Aristides  :    30 
Ariston  :   31 
Athenagoras  :   31 

Baptism :   43 

Chastity,  Christian  :   37,  45 

Christian  Fact,  the :  its  apolo- 
getic value,  36-44 

Christocentricity  of  history : 
123-125  ,  151-154 

Church,  the :  99,  and  cf. 
Heresy 

Conversion  of  the  World,  argu- 
ment based  on  :  55 

Creation  :    75,  88 

Demons :  41  ;  the  fall  of  the 
Angels,  90-91  ;  the  demons 
originate  polytheism,  93  ;  per- 
secutions, 94  ;  heresies,  96 

Dogmatic  character  of  Christian- 
ity :   57,  96,  146,  147 

Emperor-worship :      source     of 
persecution,  18-20  ;  Christian 
attitude  to,  38,  39 
Epicureanism  :   27,  28 
Epistle  to  Diognetus  :  31 
Eucharist,  the  Holy  :   44,  45 
Exorcism  :    41 

Fate  :   see  Free-will 
Free-will:   88-90 

Gnosticism  :   29,  30 

God:  stoic  doctrine  of,  25,  26, 
141  ;  Christian  doctrine  of, 
59-62  ;  our  knowledge  of 
Him  is  "analogical,"  61,  77  ; 
permanent  value  of  Apolo- 
gists' exposition  of  this  doc- 
trine, 142-14S 

Grace  :    76,  92,  11 6-1 17 

Heaven:    138-141 
Hell:    138-141 


Heresy  :   97 
Holy  Spirit,  the 


67,  68,  149 


Immortality:   88  note  2  ;   137- 

141 
Incarnation,    the :    75,    76 ;    as 

criticized   by  Jews,    104-105. 

Cf.  Logos,   Jesus   Christ,  The 

Virgin  Birth. 

Jesus  Christ :  character  of,  54  ; 
life  of,  112-114;  source  of 
Christian  virtue,  42  ;  Divinity 
of,  114-115  ;  redemptive  work 
of,  116-118.  Cf.  Christo- 
centricity. 

Jews :  the  criticism  of  the 
Synagogue,  10 1,  106  ;  diffi- 
culties of,  102-104  ;  ill-will  of, 
47-49.     Cf.  Prophecy. 

Justin,  St. :  his  life  and  writings, 
32-35  ;    his  doctrine,  passim. 

Logos:  the  stoic  conception  of, 
26-27,  72,  73,  and  often; 
Philonic  conception  of,  70, 
73  ;  Johannine  conception  of, 
70,  71  ;  Justin's  doctrine  of, 
74-87  ;  in  particular,  the  role 
of  the  Logos  among  pagans, 
75,  78,  79,  85-87..  90,  etc. ;  in 
creation,  75  ;  its  eternal 
existence,  77  ;  its  procession 
from  the  Father,  80,  81  ;  in 
human  reason,  74,  86 ;  in 
Old  Testament  Theophanies, 
81  ;  difficulties  of  this  philo- 
sophic conception,  82-83, 147- 
149  ;  its  utility,  84 

Magic  :    41 

Martyrdom,  argument  from  :  40 
Millennium  :    139 
Miracles  :    55 

Morality,  Christian  :    36-43 
Myths  :    76,  125-134  ;    value  of 
Justin's  argument,  134-136 


Oracle  :  55  note,  126  note. 

Prophecy 
Original  sin :    91 


Cf. 


I56 


INDEX 


Persecutions,  causes  of  :  18-24. 
Cf.  Demons 

Philosophy  in  Justin's  time : 
24-29.  Cf.  Logos,  its  role 
among  pagans 

Prophecy :  the  fact  as  a  portent, 
50-54 ;  as  source  of  pagan 
lore,  51  ;  as  an  element  in 
world-history  and  leading  up 
to  Christ,  107-110;  its  de- 
tailed prediction  of  Christ, 
119-120  ;  value  of  this  argu- 
ment, 120-125 


Scripture :  Justin's  use  of, 
1 07- 1 10  ;   and  see  Prophecy 

Soul:  Tatian's  psychology,  88 
note  2  ;  and  cf.  Free-will,  Im- 
mortality 

Stoicism :  24-27 ;  the  Stoic 
eschatology,  141.  Cf.  Logos 
among  pagans 

Tatian  :  31 

Theophilus  of  Antioch  :   31 

Theosophy  :    30 

Trinity,  the  Holy  :    66-70 


Quadratus  :   30 


Virgin  Birth,  the  :  76,115 


Reason    and    revelation  :      55, 

145-149 
Religion  in  Justin's  time:  21- 

24 


Will,  preparation  of,  before  argu- 
ment :    45-50 

Worship :  Christian,  45  ;  spiri- 
tuality of  true  worship,  63 


Printed  in  England  for  the  Atnbrosden  Press  by  Haxell,  Watson  &  Viney,  Ld., 
London  and  Aylesbury. 


CATHOLIC   THOUGHT    AND    THINKERS 

Press  Opinions 

As  the  industry  of  Lecky  produced  a  "  History  of  Ration- 
alism in  Europe,"  a  work  marred  by  the  author's  inadequate 
acquaintance  with  the  intellectual  history  of  Christianity, 
so  it  is  now  the  object  of  a  group  of  Catholic  scholars  to 
write  in  successive  monographs  an  account  of  the  develop- 
ment of  Catholic  thought  from  the  dawn  of  the  Christian 
era,  and  this  series — called  "  Catholic  Thought  and  Thinkers" 
— has  been  started  by  Father  C.  C.  Martindale  in  a  volume 
styled  Introductory.  In  five  chapters  the  author  surveys 
the  interplay  between  orthodoxy  and  heterodoxy  during 
five  distinct  periods  of  Church  history — from  the  beginning 
to  the  death  of  Origen  (254),  from  Origen  to  the  death 
of  Augustine  (430),  from  the  Sack  of  Rome  (476)  to  the 
decline  of  the  Middle  Age  (1303),  thence  to  the  Revolution 
(1789),  and,  finally,  in  the  Modern  era.  Thus  the  frame- 
work is  erected  in  which  the  various  great  Catholic  thinkers 
will  find  their  respective  places,  showing  the  continuity 
of  Christian  tradition  and  its  orderly  process  of  development. 
But  Father  Martindale's  work  is  more  than  a  framework : 
brilliant  little  pen  pictures  of  the  leaders  of  Christian  thought, 
illuminating  apercus  of  their  historical  surroundings,  apt 
summaries  of  the  inheritance  and  legacy  of  each  epoch, 
make  the  book  exceedingly  interesting,  and  will  make,  we 
hope,  the  public  for  which  the  series  is  designed  eager  for 
its  speedy  and  regular  appearance. 

THE   MONTH. 

A  series  of  volumes  which  ought  to  prove  of  great  interest 
to  the  general  educated  public.  Their  aim  is  to  provide 
a  more  or  less  complete  account  of  Catholic  thought  from 
the  earliest  times  down  to  the  present  day,  and  thinkers 
whose  orthodoxy  is  not  beyond  suspicion  will  be  included 
in  the  series.  Father  Martindale  is  responsible  for  the 
Introductory  volume,  and  his  historical  survey,  as  we 
should  expect  from  him,  is  able  and  broad-minded. 

THE   CHURCH   TIMES. 


CATHOLIC   THOUGHT  AND   THINKERS 

Truly  an  ambitious  scheme  !  Yet  if  we  may  conjecture 
from  the  success  of  Father  Martindale's  Introductory,  the 
scheme  is  likely  to  be  achieved  with  distinction.  To  com- 
press within  one  hundred  and  sixty  pages  an  account  of 
Catholic  "  thought "  from  the  days  before  the  Council 
of  Ephesus  to  the  last  Ecumenical  Council  of  the  Vatican 
is  in  itself  something  of  an  intellectual  feat.  Needless  to 
remark,  in  so  comprehensive  a  sketch  little  can  be  said  in 
particular  of  the  individual  "  Thinkers."  Father  Martin- 
dale  has  fortunately  a  very  happy  manner  of  saying  the  little 
that  is  just  enough  to  indicate  the  Catholic  Thinker's  place 
in  the  historical  setting.  THE  CATHOLIC  TIMES, 

Rarely  have  we  read  a  book  with  so  much  pleasure  as 
that  which  we  have  received  from  "  Catholic  Thought  and 
Thinkers,"  by  C.  C.  Martindale,  S.J.  The  purpose  of  the 
series  of  which  this  is  the  title  is  to  provide  us  with  a  con- 
tinuous feast  of  Catholic  thought,  displayed  in  the  makers 
of  thought  in  each  succeeding  age.  This  programme  has 
happily  called  forth  an  Introductory  volume  which  provides 
exactly  what  was  wanted — an  explanation  of  the  series  and 
a  rapid  panoramic  view  of  the  procession  of  thinkers.  This 
by  no  means  easy  task  has  been  well  performed  by  Father 
Martindale ;  the  present  volume,  besides  being  of  value 
to  every  cultured  reader,  will  prove  a  most  serviceable  aid 
to  the  student  in  his  theology  and  especially  in  the  history  of 
philosophy,  and  readers  of  the  series  will  do  well  to  keep 
this  Introduction  always  by  them. 

CATHOLIC  BOOK  NOTES. 

It  gives  a  clear  view  of  the  development  of  Catholic  thought 
from  Justin  Martyr  through  the  Controversies  to  Aquinas 
and  the  Reformation,  and  then  through  the  great  Roman 
mystics  and  theologians  to  the  Catholic  renaissance,  but 
it  links  the  general  development  of  European  morals  and 
philosophy,  and  shows  how  Catholic  influence  reacted  on 
the  general  tendencies  of  the  Christian  era. 

THE  GLASGOW  HERALD. 


PRESS   OPINIONS 

Nothing  could  be  better  conceived  than  the  scheme 
of  the  series,  whether  for  the  scholar,  for  whom  a  resume  at 
hand  is  always  useful,  or  for  the  student,  needing  a  general 
introduction,  or  for  the  general  reader  who  cannot  hope  to 
pursue  any  first-hand  study  of  more  than  a  few  of  the  classic 
writers  of  Catholicism.  For  all  these  the  series  will  be  a 
treasure-house  of  sound  knowledge  and  of  good,  attractive 
reading. 

To  this  fine  scheme  Father  Martindale's  volume  makes 
an  admirable  introduction,  covering  Catholic  history  from 
the  point  of  view  of  philosophy  and  religious  thought,  much 
as  Dr.  Barry's  little  book  on  the  Papacy  covers  it  for  politics 
— in  a  highly  compressed  summary,  crammed  full  of  facts, 
which  are  yet  presented  throughout  set  in  a  series  of  deeply- 
thought,  and  also  thought-provoking,  judgments — a  piece 
of  work  stimulating  and  energizing  in  every  line.  We  hope, 
and  we  prophesy,  for  %'  Catholic  Thought  and  Thinkers  " 
a  huge  success. 

THE   UNIVERSE. 


BW574  .Z7M38 

St.  Justin  the  Martyr. 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


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